Good weather returned to the Himalaya with the New Year, and so did the progress on the mountains.
Jost Kobusch did a long foray up Everest West Ridge. He left for Camp 1 on January 1, reached 6,300m yesterday, and now is back in Camp1, according to his live tracker. He has set his small Camp 1 tent at a higher location than in 2021. “It’s at the base of the wall…It’s more efficient,” he explained.
Stef Maginelle and Sophie Lenaerts in Samagaon on January 1. Photo: Sophie Lenaert
Manaslu
On Manaslu, Stef Maginelle and Sophie Lenaerts reached Samagaon village on New Year’s Day, just 24 hours after leaving Belgium. They flew to the village, where they met Simone Moro. The Italian then helicoptered back to Base Camp, but the Belgians chose to trek that stage. Manaslu Base Camp is typically 4.5 hours by foot from Samagaon, but the recent heavy snowfall surely made the going longer and harder.
Climbers on Manaslu’s lower slopes. Photo: Oswald Rodrigo Pereira
Oswald Rodrigo Pereira reported that a group of Sherpas started breaking trail in fresh snow on December 31, “slowly regaining metre after metre of trail after the massive snowfall.”
Nanga Parbat
Meanwhile, in Pakistan’s Himalaya, Nanga Parbat is showing climbers its hardest winter face. Bad weather has enveloped the area since January 1 and likely won’t improve for several days.
Herve Barmasse reads in a very cold Base Camp tent. photo: Herve Barmasse
The teams are doing their best to do some brief acclimatization rounds, despite the bad weather. The shock wave from a recent avalanche prompted them to move their Base Camp to right below the Schell route, which will likely be the line they follow up the mountain.
Paragliding near Nanga Parbat area in winter. Photo: David Gottler
