Himalaya Fall 2017: Lhotse Expedition Officially Over, Olympic Judoka Climbs Ama Dablam

Last week, just prior to going on Thanksgiving break here in the States, I shared word that Korean climber  Sung Taek Hong, along with his Spanish climbing partner Jorge Egocheaga had abandoned their attempts to summit the South Face of Lhotse. This information came by way of Lakpa Sherpa, who was managing the team's Base Camp logistics and support staff. But, as of that time, we hadn't heard anything officially from Hong himself. Over the weekend, he finally broke his silence and did indeed confirm the expedition was over.

On Saturday, Hong revealed that he had given the climb one more go, but was turned back due to high winds and extremely cold temperatures. According to The Himalayan Times, the Korean climber returned to Kathmandu over the weekend and shared some details of the climb, including setting out on November 20 for a summit bid, reaching as high as Camp 4, spending a night at that point, and then turning back the following day.

This is Hong's fifth attempt at this route, which has only been successfully completed once before. Russian mountaineers Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev were able to make the ascent along the South Face back in 1990, but it has yet to be repeated again.

Hong says he will now return home and evaluate the expedition before deciding if he will return next year. He calls this climb his "lifelong dream," and seems as though he isn't ready to give up on it just yet. Still, only time will tell if he is ready to return to give it another go in the future.

Meanwhile, The Himalayan Times is also reporting that Austrian climber Sabrina Filzmoser has successfully climbed Ama Dablam, spending just six days on the mountain. She completed the ascent on November 23, topping out alongside Mingma David Sherpa. The pair started the climb in Lukla on November 19, and were back off the mountain by this past weekend.


Filzmoser is a top Judoka, having competed for years in judo tournaments and competitions around the world. In fact, she has won bronze medals at the European championship on two occasions, finished 7th in the 2012 Olympic Games, and is currently the reigning silver medalist in Europe as well.

According to the Times, she has also participated in a program called "Judo for Peace" in Nepal, demonstrating her sport to young Nepali children and visiting training centers throughout the country.  While in the Himalaya, she has also climbed the 6189-meter (20,305 ft) Island Peak back in 2013 and the 8163-meter (26,781 ft) Manaslu last year.

As mentioned previously, the climbing season is all but over for the Himalaya this fall. There are likely a few more stories like this one that will emerge before it is completely wrapped up, but for the most part the season is over. We'll now look ahead to the winter and a busy spring season in 2018 instead.

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BASE Jumper Valery Rozov Dies on Ama Dablam in Nepal

One of the world's top BASE jumpers has died in Nepal. Russian daredevil Valery Rozov – whose exploits we covered numerous times here on The Adventure Blog – has perished in an accident on Ama Dablam this past Saturday. He was 52 years old.

According to reports, Rozov was in Nepal to train for a potential BASE jump from the summit of Mt. Everest. He had been working on a project in which he would leap off each of the Seven Summits and glide back to Earth using a wingsuit. To accomplish his goal of flying from the world's tallest mountain, he was first training on Ama Dablam, a 6812 meter (22,349 ft) peak in the Khumbu Valley.

Exactly what went wrong on this jump is not yet clear. Rozov did climb the mountain, and made his leap, but something went terribly wrong on the descent and he crashed into the side of the mountain, striking a cliff, and losing his life instantly. His body was later recovered and airlifted back to Kathmandu. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Rozov was known in the wingsuit community as someone who pushed the envelope in terms of high altitude flights. He had made record setting jumps from Changtse and Cho Oyu as he worked towards his goal of summiting Everest and flying from the highest point on the planet. He was an inspiration to many fellow BASE jumpers, and yet remained humble and modest about his accomplishments. He held the honor of making the highest wingsuit flights, as well as becoming the first to fly into an active volcano.

My condolences go out to Valery's friends and family during this difficult time.

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Video: Take a Tour of a Himalayan Base Camp

Ever wonder what it is like to live in Base Camp on a Himalayan climb? Than you'll definitely want to watch this video. It takes us to 15,000 feet (4572 meters) on Ama Dablam, where Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions takes us on a tour of BC. While obviously located in a remote – and very scenic – location, you might be surprised at how comfortable and accommodating Base Camp life can be.

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Young Climber Sets Solo Record on Ama Dablam

Jost Kobusch, a 22-year old German mountaineer, recently made a solo summit of Ama Dablam, and in the process set a record for the youngest person to pull off that feat. The 6170 meter (20,243 ft) peak located in the Khumbu Valley of Nepal, provides a good technical challenge for any climber, and is one of the most striking images of a mountain anywhere. The video below takes us through his expedition, including flying to Lukla, trekking in the Khumbu, and up the mountain itself.

Congrats to Jost on this great accomplishment, and thanks to Cyril Kaicener for sharing this with me.

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Himalaya Fall 2013: A Few Expeditions Still In The Field

Heavy snow, generally poor weather and a waning climbing season in the Himalaya have brought an end to most of the expeditions this fall. Most of the big mountains have been abandoned now with the majority of teams now long gone. But there are a few smaller climbs still taking place in Nepal, where not everyone has completed their adventures just yet.

Yesterday I posted an update from Chad Kellogg and David Gottlieb who are attempting to make the first ascent of Lunag-Ri, the tallest unclimbed peak in Nepal. If all goes as planned, they'll launch their bid later this week. It won't be an easy climb however, as they report heavy snow now on the mountain with more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) falling in the past week alone.

Over on Lhotse, the last of the 8000-meter peaks to see action this fall, we're still waiting on word from the Korean team. The last update indicated that they were headed up to Camp 2 on that mountain, but the amount of snow that was on the Western Cwm this season, even before the arrival of Cyclone Phailin, was daunting. There is no word on whether or not they are still attempting to summit or are planning on heading home.

ExWeb has shared a couple of other expeditions that are still ongoing as well. For instance, a team of French climbers arrived in country last week and are en route to Saipal now. Their travel has been delayed more than once due to poor weather, but they should arrive in Base Camp soon. Located in extreme Northwest Nepal, Saipal is a seldom climbed peak with an altitude of 7031 meters (23,067 ft).

Ama Dablam is also seeing some late season action. The popular climbing peak is 6856 meters (22,493 ft) in height and is often seen as a good tune-up for other climbs in the Himalaya. Himex has a team there now and a Pakistani group led by Shaheen Baig is also on the mountain. Aussie climber Chris Jensen Burke is also hoping to wrap up a busy year in the Himalaya with one final climb on Ama Dablam too.

While these few remaining expeditions aren't as big and sexy as some of the attempts on the 8000 meter peaks, they are still solid challenges, especially when you factor in the late season weather. It should be interesting to see how much success these teams find in the next week or so. These smaller mountains don't take nearly as long to climb and I suspect most of these remaining expeditions will wrap up by the first week of November.

Stay tuned for more updates.

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Himalaya Update: All Eyes on Ama Dablam

While the rest of the Himalaya has gone silent, Ama Dablam remains active with at least three teams currently on the mountain. ExWeb brings us an update today.

Probably the biggest news from Ama Dablam is that the Mountain Madness Team was set to make a summit bid yesterday, after reaching Camp 2 on Tuesday. There have been no updates yet to their blog, but if all went according to plan, they likely made an attempt on the 6812 meter (22,349 foot) summit today. Provided the weather has held out for them and the conditions were right, we may hear an update with news of summits, as early as tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Field Touring Alpine Team has arrived at the mountain following a successful acclimatization climb on Island Peak. That climb didn't go without incident, as it seems it was rather crowded with trekkers, who were long on ego and short on experience according to team leader Chris Szymiec. Apparently at one point, one of the FTA climbers was rappelling on a rope when someone higher up the mountain decided it was time to release the fixed line they were on at the time. Fortunately no one was hurt, and everyone got down safe and sound. Now, they're set to go after the real prize.

Finally, the Jagged Globe Team also remains on Ama, having arrived earlier in the week. They are acclimatizing and preparing for their assault as well, although there is no time table yet for when they'll make their summit bid.

Good luck everyone!

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Himalaya Update: Photos From Ama Dablam

Wednesday brings us another update from ExWeb on all the happenings in the Himalaya, with photos from the summit of Ama Dablam, news of a thwarted attempt on Kang Guru and trouble on Pumori as well.

The combined team of the Altitude Junkies and Project Himalaya made a summit push on Kang Guru on Monday, but were ultimately pushed back due to high winds and inclement weather. The latest updates had the team in C3 after a rough climb up from C2 on Monday, with the plan to set out at midnight for the top of the mountain. The 12 members of the team (6 climbers, 5 Sherpas, and guide leader Phil Crampton) were forced back to base camp yesterday however, as the beautiful weather window they were experiencing quickly closed, and snow hit the area for the first time. They're not done just yet though, and they are prepared to wait for another window to open soon.

Teams on Ama Dablam were much luckier, having completed their climb successfully and are now packing up to go home. Adventure Consultants posted a story today with some photos and news that they are preparing to leave BC in tomorrow. The image with this post is of one of my favorite "camping sites" on Ama Dablam. That's Camp 2 on the montain. Mean while the AlpenGlow team is already hiking down the Khumbu and are reportedly in Namche Bazaar.

Finally, we have bad news from Pumori where French and Nepali climbers have fallen. The two are still alive, but in critical condition, and it is being reported that the French climber, Corinne Favre, suffered a number of fractures and pulmonary issues. ExWeb says she was unconscious when the rescue helicopter arrived yesterday, and is said to be resting in a Kathmandu hospital today. There is no word on her Sherpa guide as of yet. Apparently the two were climbing the mountain on Sunday when a large serac gave way and swept them down the mountain. They were later found by other climbers at 5700m and helped down to Gorak Shep for treatment.

Pumori is legendary for it's deadly avalanches. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the mountain doesn't claim two more victims.

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Zooming In On Ama Dablam

Jake Norton, who writes The MountainWorld Blog has demonstrated his incredible abilities with a camera on more than one occasion. He brought us an amazing panoramic view of Everest and even shared some of his tips on how to take better expedition photos with the rest of us.

Today he has posted a very cool picture of Ama Dablam, an 6800+ meter peak in Nepal. The photo was taken back in October, when Jake was leading the Everest Rocks expedition up the Khumbu Valley. To make this already cool image even better however, he gave it the Zoomify treatment allowing us to zoom in close to the summit, where you can actually see climbers making their descent after a successful climb. Awesome work Jake!

Ama Dablam stands 22,349 feet in height on it's main summit, with a secondary summit clocking in at 18,251 feet. The mountain sits in Eastern Nepal, and is a prominent fixture for anyone making the trek to Everest. It's name means Mother and Pearl Necklace, and it was first climbed in 1961.

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