Himalaya Update: Chinese Crack Down On Cho Oyu!

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By: Kraig Becker
Updated:
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More news from the Himalaya today courtesy of Explorer’s Web.

First up, there is a report that a Portuguese team on Cho Oyu was kicked off the mountain without any explanation, despite the fact that they had a signed and officially stamped permit to climb. The team arrived in BC on October 6th, and were heading up to ABC a few days later when they were informed that base camp was closed to them. They are reportedly en route back home, where they’ll likely shed more light on what happened, but at the moment, all we know as that the Chinese expelled them from the mountain. Whether they had good reason to do or if it was just the Chinese exercising their authority remains to be seen.

Over on Annapurna, the Jean Troillet expedition began their summit bid a few days back, amidst fine weather and great spirits. They managed to reach as high as 6300 meters before turning back, with Jean exclaiming “the mountain is not ready”. Heavy snow has made Annapurna’s notoriously treacherous upper slopes live up to their reputation. The climbers were expected back in BC today.

Vince Anderson’s team on Makalu continues the acclimatization process, having reached 24,000 feet to the Makalu-La pass. The team seems to be doing well, despite one of the members having a nasty cough. You can read about some of their previous adventures in their excellent blog entitled Alpine Style!, and hopefully they’ll update it with news on this climb in the future as well.

Finally, ExWeb is reporting the same thing I did a few days back in regards to Edurne Pasaban. The cold and harsh weather has forced her to leave the mountain, giving up on her attempt to claim her 12th 8000m peak (and third this year alone!). She’ll head home now for a much deserved, and needed, rest, before continuing her assault on the big mountains, and the record book next year.

Kraig Becker
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