Makalu and BP Updates


ExWeb has a few updates on the ongoing Winter climbs in the Himalaya and Karakorum, where the Italians have called it quits on Makalu, but Simone continues his work on Broad Peak.

Nives Meroi, Romano Benet, and Luca Vuerich survived a harrowing night last Friday in Makalu Base Camp, where hurricane force winds blew through the region, destroying camp, sweeping the kitchen and storage tents from the mountain, taking all the conents inside with it. The team was forced to evacuate the mountain altogether on Saturday morning, finally abandoning their hopes of making the first winter ascent on Makalu. Being turned back from the mountain for a second time, Nives still has four remaining 8000m peaks on her agenda.

On Broad Peak, Simone Moro and company have experienced their own crazy winds and bad weather, including -41 degree temperatures. But work continues apace, as C2 is now established at 6300m and all the supplies for C3 are in place and ready to be shipped up once the next weather window opens. Camp 3 will be established at 7200m and is the last camp before the summit.

While Makalu is the last of the Himalayan 8000m peaks to go unclimbed in Winter, none of the Karakorum eight-thousanders have seen a successful summit during that season. Simone and his team are hoping to change that in the next few weeks.

Kraig Becker

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