원정 개요

Instagram report from Julian Sandbrink:

The southeast ridge to the main summit (7129m) in the background was getting too technical, exposed and dangerous (overhanging cornices, crevasses, no fixed ropes). Ashok Lama and I agreed not to move on as I couldn’t have properly belayed him.

No summit, but many other aspects of why I climb mountains were perfect: Astonishing views of nature, a spectacular sunrise above the earth, a tough test of physical and psychological limits and an intense feeling of being alive. An absolutely insane experience. I am very happy that I’ve taken that challenge!

Baruntse was first climbed in 1954 in an expedition led by Edmund Hillary, a year after he climbed Everest with Tenzing Norgay.

It was last summited in 2017.

This season, to our knowledge, no other climbing party got to where we were. The main reason: We just managed to cross a big crevasse via a snowbridge before it was getting too unstable from the morning sun.

The summit is getting more difficult as once stable snow/ice is breaking up, snow bridges over crevasses are becoming fragile and the line of snow that allowed walking over the ridge is vanishing.

Initially, we were 11 clients at BC with the same summit schedule. 5 left Camp II, 4 of us met around 9 am on the “false summit” plateau at 6900m, together with our Sherpa crew.