Himalaya Update: Dhaulagiri Rolls and Everest Rocks!

ama dablam
With most of the climbs finishing up on the 8000m peaks of the Himalaya, some of the attention has begun to turn towards other mountains in the area, but there are a few climbers still toiling away, hoping for a summit.

On Dhaulagiri, Dodo and Kinga have BC to themselves while they wait for things to settle higher up on the mountain. They’ve climbed as high as 5100m, but turned back there due to heavy avalanches at that height. There is still a great deal of snow above that point, but they’ll hold out in BC in hopes of the route opening up.

Over on Makalu, Nives and Romano continue their work. They’ve returned to ABC for three days rest after climbing as high as 7100m and experiencing deep snow and tough going. They say it’s “now or never”, and after their brief rest, they’ll make their one and only summit attempt. Good luck you two!

Good news from Cho Oyu however, as both the 7 Summits Club and the Cordoba Everest Team have put climbers on top of the mountain. The two teams are amongst the last on Cho Oyu this season, and were happy to have the opportunity to summit in a year that has been difficult all over the Himalaya.

As things wind down on these 8000m peaks, climbers are arriving on Ama Dablam, to being their assault on that mountain, which was the site of a couple of tragedies last year. A Spanish team had one of it’s climbers, Guillermo Mateo, fall of the Western Face shortly after reaching the summit, and a few days later an ice serac collapsed at C3, crushing other climbers while they lay in their tents. Lets hope this season goes better.

Finally, the Everest Rocks team is starting to get underway. Several of them have arrived in Kathmandu, and preparations are being made to set off for BC soon. You can read more about it in Jake Norton’s MountainWorld Blog as Jake is there now, and helping lead the team to BC. For those who haven’t heard of Everest Rocks before, it’s a group of 40 musicians who are making the trek to BC to hold an impromptu concert, which will surely be the highest concert ever held. Well, in altitude anyway. 😉 Look for more details on the concert soon, and you just happen to be wandering by Everest Base Camp on Oct. 20th, be sure to drop in and join the festivities. The concert is being held to raise fund and awareness for the Love Hope Strength Foundation to find a cure for cancer. Ma

Kraig Becker

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