Explorers Web has another update from this weekend's activities in the Karakorum and Himalaya. It seems it's bad weather all around causing issues in the mountains and delaying climbs across the entire region.
In Pakistan, the lone remaining expedition is the Free Dream Team, who continues to struggle on Trango Towers. The last update from their blog is entitled "Last Chance" which pretty much says it all. The window in the Karakorum has all but closed, and yet this team continues on, despite the bad weather. According to the blog however, they are giving it one more go, no matter what the weather. Since we haven't had an update since Friday, my guess is that they are still plugging away on Nameless Tower, hoping to summit at last. More when finally get an update.
Jumping over to the Himalaya, the Fall Season has kicked into full gear now, but bad weather is not helping the teams. The Altitude Junkies are reporting that conditions on Manaslu are not great following a major storm there. In fact, their tents at C1 collapsed under heavy snow and were buried, along with about 60 others. The team estimates that more than 4 feet of snow has fallen in just two days time, making the arduous task of breaking trail, that much more challenging. That said, the teams seem to have come up with a plan for fixing the ropes and despite the weather conditions, they are proceeding with the acclimatization process.
On Cho Oyu a similar story is told, with high winds blasting the mountain over the weekend, destroying tents and forcing teams to descend to ABC. Members of the IMG Team were expecting to move up to C2 and C3 Saturday and Sunday, but conditions were bad enough that they elected to stay put and wait out the storm as well. Sherpas from various teams had to go to C1 to take down tents there and make repairs to the camps that were already in place. The Summit Climb Team estimates the winds were in excess of 100 miles per hour, and their tents were damaged enough that they had to have more sent in to replace them.
The American Dare To Dream Team have made it to base camp on Annapurna IV, but the conditions have been less than ideal there as well. White out conditions on the mountain have made it impossible for them to climb any higher for now, although the weather is expected to break in a day or two. Another team on the South Face of Annapurna has also been confined to BC thanks to the nasty conditions there.
Finally, a team on Baruntse, a 7,220 meter peak in eastern Nepal, is reportedly set to make their summit bid. Today is a rest day, and the plan is to go up tomorrow, but they're also keeping an eye on the weather. Snow has hit that region as well, which may alter their plans. Guided by Alpine Ascents the team hopes to go to C1 tomorrow, followed by C2 on Wednesday, making the final summit bid later in the day. Good luck team!
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