원정 개요

From Altitude Junkies dispatches:

29 Aug - Samagaon by helicopter.
01 Sep - Trekked up to base camp.
03 Sep - puja ceremony.
05 Sep - Sherpas carried to C1 and members up to C1 site and back to BC.
06 Sep - rest day.
07 Sep - members to C1 for the night; Sherpas fixed ropes to C2.
08 Sep - members back to BC.
09 Sep - members to C1.
10 Sep - members to C2 for night; back to BC next day.
13 Sep - at BC during bad weather;
five members down to Samagaon, then to Ktmdu for rest.
15 Sep - with continuing bad weather, team cancels summit bit planned for 21 Sep.
16 Sep - five members return from Ktmdu.
18 Sep - seventh day of persisting bad weather.
20 Sep - bad weather continues; some members trek up to C1 and back.
23 Sep - members up to C2 in spite of bad weather.
24 Sep - members climb to C3.
25 Sep - Sherpa injured by crevasse fall while carrying load to C4 at 7200m.
26 Sep - expedition terminated due to high risks of slab avalances.

Dispatch #17 - September 26, 2015 - Base Camp

We should have been on the summit of Manaslu this morning but things didn't quite work out the way they usually do for us.

Our team members made the big climb to camp two from base camp on the 23rd. The following day they made the short climb to camp three at an elevation of 6,750 meters. I climbed directly to camp three from base camp to meet the team members as I had to check on several weather forecasts at base camp on the evening of the 23rd.

A very strong Sherpa rope-fixing team consisting of two Sherpas each from the Junkies and Himex as well as a sole Sherpa from Mountain Experience started to fix ropes to camp three on the 24th and continued with the task on the 25th. The guys made great progress fixing through the seracs and the blue ice section and then headed for camp four. Unfortunately, this is where things started to go wrong. They encountered waist deep snow, which left them unable to place safe anchors for the fixed rope. Many Sherpas from both the Junkies and Himex were carrying camp four loads and were following the rope fixers when one of these Sherpas fell into a hidden crevasse. The crevasse opened up to 4 meters wide and about 100 meters long, spanning the entire route, basically cutting off the Sherpas ahead of the crevasse. The Sherpa who fell around 10 meters into the slot was extracted, and then the Sherpas had the task of getting back over the crevasse. They found a way but the snowbridge they crossed was unstable to say the least. Whilst traversing the slot to descend, they triggered a small avalanche that did not harm them but gave them a fright. I am glad to say that the Sherpa who fell into the crevasse was not badly injured and made it down safely to base camp. He is now back in Kathmandu.

The following day another team's Sherpas were collecting loads from the high point and were exposed to another slab avalanche which luckily missed harming them.

After the events of the 25th, it was decided for all team members and Sherpas to descend to base camp to assess the situation. Back at base camp on that evening, there was a meeting of all team leaders present to see who would be able to assist the Sherpas from the Junkies and Himex to possibly fix the route to camp four. The Junkies Sherpas have spent more days rope fixing than any other team on the mountain, and have the Himex Sherpas who collaborated with them to thank for all the days they have donated to fixing ropes. The Junkies and Himex have also provided the majority of rope, hardware and ladders between them for all the expeditions present.

The largest team present, Seven Summit Treks, have now offered to fix ropes to camp four as the Sherpas from the Junkies and Himex have given all they can. The waist deep snow on the way to camp four is a concern for wind slab avalanches. To deviate from the normal route around the large crevasse involves a long exposed traverse under overhanging seracs which is not an ideal situation to be in for the team members and Sherpas.

The new group of Sherpas who are now fixing ropes to camp four hope to have this job done by the 28th but we are expecting high winds to be present for several days making the job of technical rope fixing somewhat dangerous. Many teams are now hoping for an October 1st or 2nd summit window, which will mean 100 western climbers and around 60 Sherpas all going for the summit on the same two days. Manaslu has a very narrow summit ridge and it will be impossible for all the climbers to reach the true summit. Many will have to be happy for the fore-summit, also known as the col, which was the summit for many teams in 2008.

Some of our team members have been waying up their options and have decided, with the present conditions on the mountains of slab avalanches happening, the large open crevasse blocking the route, and the uncertainity of the rope fixers completing their job, to descend to Samagaon where they will take a helicopter back to Kathmandu. Several other teams are now having some members depart their respective expeditions based on the conditions of the mountain and the number of climbers present. Our other team members are going to wait at base camp and see how things work out with establishing the route to camp four and the problematic crevasse blocking the route.

Even before the start of this expedition, the Sherpas and I had decided to climb Dhaulagiri next season instead of Manaslu. This is our eighth year here and we have been successful on all our previous Manaslu expeditions. We wonder if she is being so problematic this season because she feels slighted that we want to visit another beautiful peak next year and not her.

Phil Crampton


Carina Ahlqvist - 18 Jan 2018

For your questions I can only respond for Altitude Junkies that I was part of 2015. As I remember everyone in our whole team reached camp 3 at 6800 meter. We stayed over the night at camp 3 and Himex with Russell Brice team that were about 100-200 meter from us with the same summit attempt schedule. There was an avalanche between our camps in the night, but didn't come too close to our tents. It was very windy for Himex that were more exposed to the wind, but we were fine. According to my notes that I took on a daily basis it was September 24th on the way to camp 4 (which is the highest camp) that the Sherpa fell into the crevasse and then they came back again to go to a hospital in Kathmandu. No team member continued further by that time. It was only Sherpa fixing ropes that reached that crevasse. We were doing our attempt for the summit push together with Russell Brice and the Sherpa who fell into the crevasse was in his team. I don't remember his name though and only noted that he was from Russell's team, but not his name. I asked the question now to one of the Sherpa in our team that I still stay in contact, with but he has not yet responded. I would suggst you ask Russell for the name.

Carina Ahlqvist - 19 Jan 2018

The Sherpa who fell Into the crevasse was Namgyal Sherpa from Himex, Russell Brice expedition.