May 14, 2012

Dhaulagiri (7th highest at 8167m) from near Muktinath (Charlotte Austin)

Eben called this morning to say they had made it to Manang yesterday, and that they enjoyed food, showers, and entertainment (they watched “Vertical Limit” last night).  Pasang Nuri and Sante are headed back down to Besisahar with gear/porters and today the Sherpas are meeting the climbers at Yak Kharka and then they are headed to Phedi. Then, tomorrow, they cross the Thorung La (5,416m/17,769ft; La means pass) and descend to Muktinath and Jomsom, with the hope of flying back to Pohkara on the 16th.  We had some sad news overnight — it sounds like one of the local Jomsom flights crashed today, so it is unclear how that event might affect the teams’ departure plans.   If necessary, they can depart Jomsom by vehicle (it is a very rough 12 hour drive or a 20 minute flight back to Pohkara).  Either way, they should be back to Pohkara in the next couple days.

Eric Simonson

May 12, 2012

Annapurna 4 from near Humre

IMG guide Eben Reckord called on the sat phone from Camp 3 to say that they were hoping to get a pre-dawn start on their summit bid this morning, but that a snowstorm came in overnight.  So, they were electing to bail out from C3 instead.  Now Eben called back to say they made it down to Base camp, and were glad that they bailed, as it snowed hard all day during their retreat to BC.  Better safe than sorry—they did not want to get pinned down up there.

These guys have had a real Himalayan experience the last month, making their own route up a beautiful peak.  Now they are headed home via Thorung La trek and Jomson flight.  Their goals for tomorrow are hot showers, lots of food, and emailing friends and family in Manang.

Eric Simonson

May 5, 2012

Early morning sun hits Annapurna 2 (on left) and Annapurna 4 (on right) from A4 Base Camp (Craig John)

IMG guides Eben Reckord and  Emily Johnston report that the team descended today to Base Camp, after their run up towards Camp 3.  After spenidng their second night at Camp 2, they push up towards C3, then descended.  The sherpas did some more fixing above Camp 2, and everyone is now back down.  They are doing well, and are going to take a few rest days while they wait for a good forecast prior to their summit bids.

There was a big flood today on the south side of the Annapurna Range, apparently triggered by a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (you can Google that up for more info).  This had nothing to do with our team.  There are hundreds of these glacial lakes in the Himalaya, and unfortunately, these GLOF events are not that uncommon.

Eric Simonson