While the rest of the Himalaya has gone silent, Ama Dablam remains active with at least three teams currently on the mountain. ExWeb brings us an update today.
Probably the biggest news from Ama Dablam is that the Mountain Madness Team was set to make a summit bid yesterday, after reaching Camp 2 on Tuesday. There have been no updates yet to their blog, but if all went according to plan, they likely made an attempt on the 6812 meter (22,349 foot) summit today. Provided the weather has held out for them and the conditions were right, we may hear an update with news of summits, as early as tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Field Touring Alpine Team has arrived at the mountain following a successful acclimatization climb on Island Peak. That climb didn’t go without incident, as it seems it was rather crowded with trekkers, who were long on ego and short on experience according to team leader Chris Szymiec. Apparently at one point, one of the FTA climbers was rappelling on a rope when someone higher up the mountain decided it was time to release the fixed line they were on at the time. Fortunately no one was hurt, and everyone got down safe and sound. Now, they’re set to go after the real prize.
Finally, the Jagged Globe Team also remains on Ama, having arrived earlier in the week. They are acclimatizing and preparing for their assault as well, although there is no time table yet for when they’ll make their summit bid.
Good luck everyone!
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Is anyone actually climbing the mountain? Sounds like it’s just a bunch of tourists clipping ascenders on fixed lines from below Camp 1 all the way to the summit. Apparently most don’t even carry ice axes anymore and have to be shown how to use ascenders.
Good question Clyde. Both of these mountains are seeing their fair share of tourists these days being shepherded up the mountain. Island Peak in particular has become popular for the non-technical climbers to go up and nab a “Himalayan Peak”.
I think that if you check the field touring website that there was a fatality on A D.
Ouch! 🙁 I’ll check on it. Sad news if true.