Lhotse, Makalu, Everest, Jannu: work in progress

Expeditions: summit time is fast approaching. In the Everest region the second half of May is statistically the most important time of year for successful summit bids.

Planetmountain.com

May 2004

Traduci in

Expeditions: summit time is fast approaching. In the Everest region the second half of May is statistically the most important time of year for successful summit bids. Some of the most important "work-in-progress" are listed below.

Lhotse 8501
Last week Nives Meroi, Luca Vuerich and Romano Benet installed Camp 3 and then proceeded to 7800m, where they deposited a tent, stove and food for Camp 4. They were forced to return to Base Camp to sit out a storm and a "weather window", forecast between 17-22 May, will probably be used by the trio for the summit bid.

Makalu, 8481m, North Face
Jean-Christophe Lafaille, currently attempting the unclimbed North Face of Makalu, has completed his acclimatisation phase. On Friday 7 May the Frenchman climbed up from Camp 1 to 7200m, where he spent the night. He managed to fix some ropes at roughly 7000m and, according to his wife Katia, "Jean-Christophe believes this is the hardest section he's ever climbed at altitude. He needed two hours just to climb 60m of technical mixed terrain!" With only 20m of rope left Lafaille was unable to continue past Camp 1 and therefore returned to Base Camp. His possible line of ascent continues past the summit of Makalu 2, down to Makalu La, and on along the normal route on the Nepalese face to reach the 8481m summit. The tour from Base Camp to Makalu and back again could take 7 days - solo and without oxygen.

Everest, 8850m, North Face
As reported earlier the Russian expedition led by Victor Kozlov is attempting a direct line up the North Face of Everest. On of the most intersting expeditions this season is proceeding smoothly: Camp 2 has been installed at 7550m and the expedition has touched 7800m. The plan is to continue alternating work groups and instal fixed ropes through the massive rock bastion to 7900m.

Jannu, 7710m, North Face
Another vertiginous north face attempted by Russian mountaineers led by Alexander Odintsov... The top group comprised of Alexander Ruchkin and Mikhail Mikhailov has now changed leads with Mikhail Pershin and Nikolay Totmyanin, who continue to forge their way slowly upwards. Portaledges included.