According to ExWeb, only a handful of climbers are still on either mountain, and those that do remain were hoping to go up yesterday. While there is no word yet from Cho Oyu however, Xavi Arias reported in today that his team was turned back from the summit on Manaslu thanks to a constant stream of high winds that did not die down as forecasts had predicted. The team has now returned to Base Camp, and it seems likely that their season is over.
Meanwhile, over on Cho Oyu, a number of teams have abandoned BC and headed home following poor weather forecasts and reports that the unstable snow above Camp 3 were making the approach to the summit extremely dangerous. But a few climbers remained behind, including the Field Touring Alpine team, and now they seem to be getting rewarded for their patience. Climbers began their final summit push on Tuesday of this week and are reportedly hoping to be in position to top out tomorrow or Saturday, depending on the wind conditions.
On Everest, Eric Larsen had been planning on heading up to Camp 2 and then 3 as part of his acclimatization process a few days back, but unfortunately his back is causing him problems, so he's spending some time in BC to rest up. It doesn't seem as if it is too serious, and he's still on track to make his summit bid soon. He's been on Everest for more than three weeks now, and things seem to be progressing on schedule. No word on when he, or anyone else, will begin the long trek to the summit however.
Finally, two climbers were lost in the Himalaya recently, with Walter Nones falling on Cho Oyu earlier this week and Japanese climber Osamu Tanabe perishing on Dhaulagiri last week. Osamu was one of the top climbers in his home country and was lost in an avalanche with three teammates and a Sherpa guide. They both will be missed.
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