Himalaya Update: Still Going On Makalu

While the Himalayan season continues to wind down, and the focus shifts to the Antarctic, ExWeb is still continuing their updates from the mountains, with word on summits on Ama Dablam, fierce winds on Makalu, and more.

Starting on Makalu, Steve House, Vince Anderson, and Marko Prezelj are reporting, via the Official Patagonia Blog, The Cleanest Line, that they have returned to BC after experiencing poor weather on the mountain's West Face. The trio are attempting a new route on Makalu, and so far the conditions have not cooperated with them. They report flying rock and ice along the wall, which made the decision to go down much easier to make. Unfortunately, their climbing permit will be running out soon, but they have not ruled out the option of extending the permit if weather conditions look to improve.

The news is much better on Ama Dablam, where over the weekend IMG, AlpenGlow, and Adventure Consultants all report successful summit bids on the 22,349 foot mountain. There are rumors, according to ExWeb, of an accident however, although nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Lets keep our fingers crossed that everyone is safe, and offer the climbers a congratulations on a job well done.

On Kang Guru, the Altitude Junkies are about to make their summit bid as well, and look to make their move over the next few days. The current plan is to skip C1 and proceed directly to C2, with C3 the destination for day 2, and summit day coming on day 3. The little climbed Kang Guru is a 22,904 foot peak located in central Nepal, not far from Annapurna, in the Manang region.

Finally, it what has become a common report it seems, the Peak Freaks Team on Pumori is reporting that another team there left a lot of trash in base camp, forcing them to conduct clean-up operations. The team says they know exactly which team it was, and that their name is on some of the garbage, and recommends that that team reimburse them for their expenses in that clean-up or face having the evidence turned over to the authorities. We've heard a number of reports about how trashed some of the base camps have been this season, and it's a shame that this is such an issue. Lets hope it's a trend that doesn't continue.