Baruntse - Himalaya 2010
Summit Climb Expeditions report by Felix Berg
It was a tough, but great season with commercial SummitClimb Expeditions. Strong rains of a prolonged monsoon complicated climbing and gave us a tough challenge. With a big team we summited Mera Peak (6500 m), then Baruntse with 8 members, myself being the expedition leader fortunate to summit. Our team reached the summit between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm. Following are the reports from that day by Daniel Mazur.
Live - 10:50 a.m. Nepal time: “The Baruntse team is about 1 hour below the summit. They are just nearing the section where the famous sherpa, Chhewang Nima Sherpa, passed away. May God rest his soul. It appears that he was standing on an overhanging cornice lip, which broke off while he was standing on it. We’re not sure if he was roped. Apparently 2 sherpas went up there from another team. He was one and there was another gentleman. Only one came back. We’re not sure if he was roped or if the rope broke. What a tragic situation. Right now our team is almost at the summit and they are experiencing really good conditions. There is solid snow pack and light winds. It’s very sunny with no clouds and perfect weather for a summit day. We wish them the best on this next section of the climb and we hope that they are very safe.”
Live - 7:00 a.m. Nepal time: “The team of 8 members and 8 sherpas is heading for the summit. They left at 2:00 this morning. So far they are doing okay. It’s a bit windy up there, but the conditions seem to be all right. They’re moving very slowly and carefully, fixing extra ropes, extra ice screws and extra snow bars as they go. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. We will keep you updated. We think they have another 3-4 hours to go before they reach the summit and we wish them all the best. Thanks for following. Bye, bye.“
Due to a cold caught during the rains and bad coughing on the descent I sprained a rip (or the muscle). We still traversed the Amphu Laptse (5850 m) as planed and I spent a few days restening in Namsche Bazar but my plans climbing alpine style in the Himalayans did not come to reality that year. It was a tough a difficult season with a lot of bad accidents due to the strong snow fall (avalanches, cornices). One Sherpa we knew died on Dhaulagiri, one famous Sherpa on Baruntse and two rescuers on a helicopter crash on Ama Dablam. My condolence goes out to all the loved ones left behind
Related Baruntse Links.
German: Report from the Baruntse Expedition