Himalaya 2009 climbing season, Karakoram and Himalaya wrap-up /25/ – Week in Review.

Summit push on G3 via a new route. A new line, summits and two fatalities on Nanga Parbat.

Young polar aspirant lost in Afghanistan, a new polar kiting distance record, a number of interviews and several special stories – here goes a review of the latest at ExplorersWeb.

G3/G4 Don, Bruce, Billy and Guy are at 7300m on a new route on G3 from the Cwm situated at 7000m between G4 and G3,” reported David Fält from Islamabad on Saturday. “They will go for the summit at midnight today, climbing via a new line on GIII’s NW flank. The forecast is looking good. Should they succeed, it would be GIII’s third or fourth ascent, and only the second route ever climbed up the mountain,” David said. Falt was injured in a crevasse fall and airlifted from BC earlier last week.

Nanga Parbat new route Gerfried Göschl, Louis Rousseau, Herbert Schütter, Sepp Bachmair and Hans Goger summited Nanga Parbat on Saturday via a new route, their website reported.

Korean star climber Miss Go lost on Nanga Parbat normal route Go Mi-Sun (‘Ko Mi-young’) has been confirmed dead after she went missing on Nanga Parbat Saturday. Details are not yet clear on what exactly caused the accident. Fellow mountaineers on the peak reported she had summited on supplementary O2; Korean media reported she fell on descent at around 6200 meters close to camp 2. With 11, 8000ers summited in a very short time, Go, 41, became known as a “dark horse” in the quest for the first female to summit all 14, 8000ers. Read ExWeb’s Sunday special on the perished climber.

Austrian Wolfgang Köblinger lost on Nanga Parbat normal route From the Austrian team, Hans Wenzl, Rick and Sandy summited but Wolfgang Köblinger went missing. The climber reportedly reached the summit together with a Korean expedition around 6 pm but fell on descent. Traces in the snow indicate Wolfgang might have gone over a steep section at 8060m.

Nanga Parbat normal route more summits: Portuguese Joao Garcia summited Nanga Parbat in high wind Saturday, bagging his 13th 8000er. About 8 climbers topped-out, Joao’s home team reported, including Pakistani Ali and Amin. Giuseppe Pompili and Ariano del Cin turned back, meeting Korean Miss Oh (pushing for her 12th 8000er) about one hour into their descent. The Korean lady was still going up at that point, but very slowly Pompili reported. The Kinshofer route climbers reported clear skies but hard wind, very cold conditions, and a steep climb from C2 to C3, entirely on hard ice. Joao Garcia carried ropes to C3,”he’s a true Gentleman, who had to make two trips to C3 for it,” Pompili said, adding that Korean Miss Oh told him she had used O2 only on K2 and Everest, and that she regretted it. After she’s done with the 14x8000ers, she reportedly hopes to repeat both peaks without gas.

K2: “We are about 20 climbers on K2 this year, divided between the Cesen and Abruzzi routes,” reported Ecuadorian Santiago Quintero, climbing with Spaniards Martin Ramos (5, 8000ers) and Jorge Egocheaga (late Iñaki Ochoa’s regular climbing mate with 9, 8000ers summited). The three switched route to their original Abruzzi as they didn’t like conditions on the Cesen route. Field Touring Alpine’s commercial team (on Cesen), led by Fabrizio Zangrilli, reported a Japanese team of 7 climbers also on the Abruzzi route. Austrian sky-runner Christian Stangl, 43, hopes to break Benoit’ Chamoux’s 23 hours speed record on K2, according to Montagna.org and Christian’s website. After a failed attempt last year, two-time Everest summiteer Dave Watson is back to K2, hoping to climb and ski down (at least, partially) the Cesen route, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Kazakh Maxut and Vassily, teaming up with Russian Serguey Bogomolov, are sharing permit with Austrian Gerlinde and David. Many climbers were pushing for C2 or C3 end last week.

Gasherbrum II According to Kairn.com, Ueli Steck summited Gasherbrum II on 9 July. Philippe Gatta, Serap Jangbu, Phil Crampton & his team (Altitude Junkies), Jagged Globe, Spanish, Bulgarian and Iranian climbers all waited for conditions to improve by end last week.

Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) Spanish veteran climber Carlos Soria is attempting Hidden Peak at 70 years old. The team also includes Marta Alejandre, Luis Carcavilla, two Colombian climbers and a separate Spanish team. Veikka Gustafsson is also on GI, the last peak on his 14x8000ers list, climbing with Kazuya Hiraide. Reportedly the first climbers up on GI’s route this year, “there’s much more snow this year than in 2008, particularly from BC to C2,” Veikka said.

Broad Peak The Arash mountaineers club of Tehran team left 500 meters of fixed rope at the starting section of Broad’s SW face. News is expected from FTA and Eelco Jansen’s international team (normal route).

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