The Alpenglow team has called off its attempt on Kangchenjunga. Conditions are still too dangerous for a summit push and its sole client has run out of time.
The expedition had fixed up to Camp 4, but heavy snowfall thwarted its summit attempt last week. Worst of all, the big dump left an unstable snowpack along the route.
“The team ran into a 400m avalanche between 6,800m and 6,400m, between C3 and C2,” Alpenglow’s home team wrote. ”After much deliberation, they concluded that a second summit attempt was outside the margins of risk that they were willing to take.”
Slab avalanche on Kangchehnjunga some days ago. Photo: Alpenglow Expeditions
Conditions should improve soon, and there might be another summit window in a week. But the expedition’s only client, Jan Werner, is out of time and has to return home.
Jan Werner on Kangchenjunga. Photo: Jan Werner
Ironically, that upcoming good weather may work out for a second team that has just arrived. The lone client, a Taiwanese woman named Tseng Ko-Erg, summited Dhaulagiri on October 1. Gelje Sherpa, vying to become the youngest to complete the 14×8,000’ers, is one of her guides. If they succeed, Kangchenjunga would be his 12th peak.
Alpenglow said that they “cleaned the mountain” before leaving, but they may have left ropes and gear for the Taiwanese expedition, which will then bring them out.
