원정 개요

ABC at left side of rocky hill in Chago Glacier
C1 as same as New Zealand & Austrians (not slept in)
C2 as same as New Zealand & Austrians (22 tents in C2)
C3 at Makalu La.

Summit party of Corona brothers to Makalu La 13 May afternoon with Austrians (Trippacher team). Renzo's bad cough got acute and stayed at C3 waiting for brother Giampolo, who left camp at midnight of 13-14 March with Austrians. But they stopped on C4 and Corona, after waiting there 1/2 hour, went on up alone but Austrians ahead and behind him. He and Austrians went around into north side of NW Ridge while Koreans went by direct time. First on top were one member of Ortner team, then Rudy Denk of Trippacher party, maybe Karl Watschinger of Trippacher, Corona, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner of Trippacher team, then he met Erich Resch (who did not respond). He returned C3 at 4:00 pm. This only summit party. Others getting fit enough slowly to try later, but group work successful with one man on top.


20 May 2001 - Austrian Makalu members Rudolf Denk and Miss Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner said Corona did not reach summit. Denk saw him at about 8300m, a little below summit ridge. Corona was a little ahead of Denk, but Denk did not see him on top and Kalten brunner did not see him there. They are sure he could not have been on summit (Watschinger did not join conversation about Corona).

20 May 2001 - Guy Cotter, leader of another Makalu team, understood from third Austrian summiter (Karl Watschinger), that Karl looked down from summit and saw Corona turn around at couloir below summit ridge. Karl was first of Austrian to top and neither he nor the other Austrians saw the Corona near top.

26 May 2001 - Austrian exped led Ortner: they are sure Carona did not reach the summit but know he turned back instead.


Mezzano, Aug 2, 2001 - Letter to Miss Hawley from Giampaolo Corona:

I want to inform you about the circumstances happened here in Europe. Some Austrian member of the Karinzia Lechtaler Makalu Expedition talked with some journalist and they affirmed that I have never reached the summit of Makalu because they didn't meet me on their way back from summit.

They never had the politeness to contact me for explanations and they went directly to the newspapers with their opinions.

After this unfair behaviour thanks to the help of the president of the Suodtiroler Alpen Verein it was organised an understanding meeting in Bozen between Italians and Austrians. To represent the whole Austrian Expedition there was only one member accompanied by a not concerned highly representative member of the Oesterreichnischer Alpen Verein.

The results of such a meeting were absolutely useless to clear the matter and the only agreement was to forsake the whole matter (though both the parties strictly kept their own position).

Coming back to the question you wrote to me I state that I reached the main summit of Makalu, at about 8465 meters, alone, in the early afternoon of the May 14th 2001. Afterward I climbed back to Camp 3, at Makalu Lha, where, at about 16:30-17:00 I embraced again my brother Renzo (the leader, who got stuck there by a heavy cough) and the two other Italian companions that had just climbed up to Camp 3 the same day. We climbed back the whole route to the Advanced Base Camp where we happily arrived at about 22:30.