Himalaya Update: Still Snowing!

MountEverest.net has more news from the Himalaya today, with the same theme we've seen all Autumn, namely more snow!

On Dhaulagiri, Fredrick Ericsson writes that he set out from BC to Camp 1 recently, with the hopes of making a serious bid at the summit, but those hopes were dashed when he arrived at C1 to find his tent buried under a meter and a half of fresh snow. The only thing he could find of his campsite were the tips of pair of skis sticking up from the snow. He then spent two hours digging out his tent, only to find that one of his tent poles was bent and a large hole was ripped in the side of the shelter. The next day was spent repairing the tent and preparing for a climb to C2, which didn't go as planned either, as breaking trail proved to be exhausting work and yet another snow storm set in, dumping more of the white stuff and limiting visibility. He concludes by noting that many climbers have given up on their summit dreams and are pulling out of camp and heading home, although he still has some time left on his permit, and will see if a window opens for him before departing.

Nives and Romano continue to work the wall on Makalu, but are being hampered by all the snow as well. They said that it was impossible to go up to 6500m, and that if they were going to conquer the mountain, it would "take time, patience and a great physical effort". The pair aren't giving up just yet however, and are likely to be back on the wall today.

Andrew Lock has become the latest victim on Shisha Pangma this season, as he announced that he is packing up camp and heading off the mountain as well. Most of the climbers, including our friend Alan Arnette have already left Shisha thanks to the heavy snows that continue to fall there. I believe Andrew was the last man standing on the mountain before deciding it was time to head home as well.

Thinks went a little better on Cho Oyu for three men from Anchorage, Alaska. Tyler Johnson, Rory Stark and Will Stark topped out on October 3rd and then made a ski descent down the mountain to camp their epic climb. Two of the men managed to ski from the summit to C1, only using a fixed line between C2 and C1 to cross the ice falls. Nice show guys! :)

Finally, ExWeb gives a tip of the hat to Christian Stangl, the Austrian climber I mentioned yesterday who set a new speed record on Cho Oyu by going from BC to the summit in 15 hours, 6 minutes. There isn't much new to be added to yesterday's report however.