Latest news with #MingmaG
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kangchenjunga: The Season's Last Summits?
Everest is not the only 8,000'er where time is running out; many climbers are betting on "now or never" pushes on Kangchenjunga. Today, teams are reporting several summits, including 10 members of Mingma G's Imagine Nepal expedition. Amongst them, Naila Kiani of Pakistan bagged her 12th 8,000'er and fellow Pakistani Sirbaz Khan summited the peak again, just days after completing his no-oxygen 14x8,000'er quest. This time, Khan used supplemental oxygen because he was guiding, leader Mingma G told ExplorersWeb from Advanced Base Camp. Other members of the summit group included Sashko Kedev of Macedonia (on his 13th 8,000'er with only Gasherbrum I to go), Wang Zhong of China, Hakon Asvang of Norway, and Maria Alexandra Danila of Romania. The guides included Khan, Pemba Chhiri Sherpa, Ngima Nuru Sherpa, Kili Pemba Sherpa, and Prem Bahadur Tamang. Imagine Nepal's team will try to return to Advanced Base Camp today. At the time of writing (2:45 pm, Nepal time), they were near Camp 2. Australian Allie Pepper is attempting to reach the summit without oxygen, she is supported by Mikel Sherpa. Earlier today, Pepper left Camp 3 at 6,800m and is slowly ascending. At 2:30 pm, her tracker put her at 7,350m, still far from the 8,586m summit. As with Everest, teams have gained altitude gradually from camp to camp -- a strategy now possible with the large supplies of O2 -- and have launched summit pushes when the weather allowed over the last seven days. As on Everest, there were many summits on May 18, with teams taking advantage of relatively light winds at summit altitude. For now, there is little information about those ascending or descending on Kangchenjunga. The descent is a serious challenge; Kangchenjunga is not only the third highest mountain on Earth, but the normal route is very long, longer even than the normal route on K2. It is an exhausting climb to the summit, but climbers need to save enough power for a descent involving steep sections and long plateau traverses. The mountain has already taken a climber's life. On May 11, Margareta Morin of France died on her first 8,000m climb. Meanwhile, British climber Adrian Hayes was injured while descending and spent a night above 8,000m in the open. He eventually made it down and rescue services airlifted him to hospital for treatment.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Annapurna Summit Push Is On; Conditions Remain Tough
At this moment, eight Sherpas from Imagine Nepal are preparing to set off into the night from Camp 3 toward the summit of Annapurna. Expedition leader Mingma G says he has never seen the mountain in such bad condition. "I have always regarded this mountain as the most beautiful 8,000m climb and also the hardest," admits 38-year-old Mingma G. However, the poor state of the route this year, with sheer ice and lots of open crevasses from Camp 2 upward, forced his team to retreat twice when they ran out of rope. "This [is] my last expedition to Annapurna," he writes. Imagine Nepal is not alone on the mountain. A large number of climbers from several teams are following closely behind. Mingma remains concerned. "This mountain is just too risky in between Camp 2 and Camp 3," he says. "I hope our team and all climbers on Annapurna have good weather on April 5 to the summit and back." The mountain has already had one accident when Vadim Druelle of France fell some 40m into a crevasse. He was rescued, injured and frostbitten, by Mingmar Dhondup and Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, guides with 14 Peaks Expedition. Like other climbers, Druelle was acclimatizing before the summit push. Eduard Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan was with him the day before the accident and noted that the area was unsafe, but says Druelle chose to remain. Kubatov shared a video of Druelle's evacuation by helicopter: Yesterday, a large number of climbers left Base Camp and started toward the summit. All seem to be aiming for Monday as summit day. Seven Summit Treks has the largest group. They plan to advance one camp a day, starting today. Mindaugas Satkauskas, a member of the 14 Peaks Expedition team, should be in Camp 2 now, he said before leaving. He plans to sleep in Camp 3 tomorrow and set off on the final summit push on Sunday at 5 pm local time. Makalu Adventure reports that their team will start the summit push on April 6. The Pioneer Adventure team, led by Mingma Dorchi Sherpa, is also on the go and likewise estimates April 6-8 as their summit days. Gian Luca Cavalli of Italy and Cesar Rosales of Peru also left Base Camp yesterday. Contrary to their original plans, which included opening a variation up the Northwest Spur, they have noted that they will climb the normal route.
