Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger: first winter ascent of Siberian Pik Pobeda.

Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger have carried out the first winter ascent of Pik Pobeda (Tienszan 7,439 m – 24,406 ft), also known as Gora Pobeda and at 3003 meters the highest mountain in Siberia, Arctic Polar Circle.  

After climbing for 7 hours, at 15.37 the other day the Italian mountaineers Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger reached the summit of Pik Pobeda, a 3003 meter high mountain in Siberia’s Chersky Range. This region is classified as one of the coldest on the planet, hence its nickname The Pole of Cold.

Having set off from Italy on 22 January, Moro and Lunger began the long journey towards the mountain’s base camp, reached with the help of reindeer that hauled their gear on sledges. After setting up Base Camp the duo waited for the right forecast and set off for the summit, retiring to BC 11 hours later.

“It snowed all day long, but there was good visibility. It was extremely cold! How cold we do not know yet, we’ll check and tell you.” Moro explained by sat phone. At base camp the temperature had dropped down to -40° C, and in the expedition report that no doubt will arrive in due course, one can expect even colder temperatures.

Link: www.simonemoro.com, www.tamaralunger.com, C.A.M.P., La Sportiva, Climbing Technology

* source: –  Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger: first winter ascent of Siberian Pik Pobeda

** see also: – National Polish Winter K2 Expedition 2017/18.

Interview: Simone Moro on winter K2.

December 21 marks the official start of winter. This season, all eyes will be on the Polish expedition to attempt the first winter ascent of K2, led by Krzysztof Wielicki. ExWeb caught up with Simone Moro to talk about challenges the team will face and get some background on the expedition.

… more on – http://www.explorersweb.com/

** see also: – Nanga Parbat: 1 Saved, 1 Lost and the Spirit of Mountaineering is Strong.

– Winter Climbs 2018: Camp 3 on Everest, K2 Team in Skardu

Winter Climbs: K2, Everest and Wind.

The death of Polish climber Tomek Mackiewicz and the rescue of French climber Elisabeth Revol by the Polish K2 team had followers at the edge of their seat over the past five days as once again the world’s attention was focused on high-altitude mountaineering.

Now the K2 team is trying to regroup and over on Everest, there has been excellent progress this week. But with high winds hitting both Hills, we can expect a pause for a few days. See this post for full background on the K2 and Everest expeditions and the history of winter attempts on the highest two mountains on Earth.

Big Picture

Climbing an 8000-meter peak is difficult enough in the normal seasons – pre and post-monsoon for Everest and summer for K2 – but doing them in winter takes the difficulty to an entirely new level.

There are two major issues: wind and cold. Winter weather is just an unpredictable as summer for high mountains because they make their own conditions poking into the jet stream. The cold is beyond brutal, at times can be -40F/C. Even the best down suits will only do so much. Add in the winds, and exposed skin will almost instantly suffer frostbite. So it becomes a bit of a game to climb as high as you can, as fast as you can and return to the safety of camp before a disaster occurs. If you target a short weather window and are wrong, the results can be deadly.

Depending on the year, heavy snow can be an issue. The Poles had reported that K2 had little snow on the flanks and they were climbing on ice-covered rock most of the time. Of course, we will see what they find at Camp 4, about 8,000-meters. The big issue on Everest will be near the South Col and perhaps the Triangular Face.

All the climbers are not using supplemental oxygen thus the risk is even higher. Extra O’s primarily help keep the climber warm. When cold penetrates the layers, the body will abandon the fingers, toes, nose and shift more blood to save the heart, lungs and other organs. This natural triage must be consciously managed throughout an expedition. The only cure for these conditions is to get lower and warmer.

Everest South Col Route by Alan Arnette

Winter K2

Waiting for a ride. Courtesy of Denis Urubko

The Polish team is not 100% back together as the members who went to Nanga Parbat are stuck in Skardu waiting for better weather for the helicopter. The winds are 50kph/30 mph at base camp and stronger up high. The estimate at Camp 2, around 6,300-meters, is winds blowing at 80kph/50 mph.

Once back together, they will continue to fix the route up the Česen Route aka Basque Route, hopefully establishing Camp 3 around 7,000-meters.

You can follow them directly on their website, Facebook, and SPOT tracker.

Everest and K2 in the Winter by alanarnette.com.

Recommended by us…. amazing website …

Everest and K2 in the Winter.

Will there be a winter summit of Everest and finally on K2 this winter? This is always a question as we approach winter. And teams usually keep their plans quiet. The recent suspects include Alex Txikon on Everest and the Poles on K2.

To claim a true winter ascent of a northern hemisphere peak, the summit must be reached during the calendar winter of the northern hemisphere. For 2017/18 this begins with the winter solstice on December 21, 2017 at 11:28 am EST and ends with the spring equinox on March 201, 2018 at 12:15 pm EDT.

Also to be fully certified as a winter ascent, not only the summit has to be reached within the winter calendar, but the start of the expedition cannot be before winter solstice either. Practically this means that the Base Camp must be reached after the winter solstice.

8000ers in Winter

As this table shows, Polish climbers have dominated first winter ascents of the 8000 meter peaks.

Peak	First Winter ascent	First Winter summiter(s)
Everest	17 Feb 1980	Krzysztof Wielicki Leszek Cichy
Manaslu	12 Jan 1984	Maciej Berbeka Ryszard Gajewski
Dhaulagiri I	21 Jan 1985	Andrzej Czok Jerzy Kukuczka
Cho Oyu	12 Feb 1985	Maciej Berbeka Maciej Pawlikowski
Kangchenjunga	11 Jan 1986	Krzysztof Wielicki Jerzy Kukuczka
Annapurna I	3 Feb 1987	Jerzy Kukuczka Artur Hajzer
Lhotse	31 Dec 1988	Krzysztof Wielicki
Shishapangma	14 Jan 2005	Piotr Morawski Simone Moro
Makalu	9 Feb 2009	Simone Moro Denis Urubko
Gasherbrum II	2 Feb 2011	Simone Moro Denis Urubko Cory Richards
Gasherbrum I	9 Mar 2012	Adam Bielecki Janusz Gołąb
Broad Peak	5 Mar 2013	Maciej Berbeka Adam Bielecki Tomasz Kowalski Artur Małek
Nanga Parbat	26 Feb 2016	Simone Moro Muhammad Ali Sadpara Alex Txikon
K2

source: Wikipedia

K2 This Winter?

Of course, K2 remains the only 8000er not summited in winter. Last year, Nanga Parbat succumbed to the team of Alex Txikon, Ali Sadpara, Simone Moro, and Tamara Lunger. It took 31 winter attempts before summiting Nanga in winter.

Now on K2, Krzysztof Wielicki, 67, who was in the first team to scale Everest in winter in 1980 will lead the Polish K2 attempt this winter.

Funding had been a problem but it appears they have received $275,000 from the Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism according to this article.

They will be a team of 10 but only four will be on the “summit team.” They will climb in traditional siege style establishing several camps along the route. Of course weather is the primary concern as K2 is always hit with high winds but in winter the jet stream tends to sit on top of it with 200 mph winds and experience heavy snowfall.

The team is scheduled to include: Janusz Goląb, 50, with a Gasherbum I ascent, Artur Małek, who made the first winter ascent of Broad Peak, Marcin Kaczkan, K2 in the winter of 2002/03 to 7,600m and summited K2 and Nanga Parbat in the summer, plus Marek Chmielarski, summits of Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak.

Other team members include Rafał Fronia (Lhotse and Gasherbrum II), Piotr Tomala (Broad Peak and Cho Oyu), Dariusz Załuski (filmmaker / climbed five 8,000-metre peaks) and doctor Krzysztof Wranicz.

They are not sure which route they will take but it most likely will be either the Abruzzi or the Česen.

See this post for a nice overview of K2 winter attempts. But these are the highlights from Gripped:

• 1980 Reconnaissance: Pol Andrzej Zawada and Canadian-resident Polish national Jaques Olek
• 1987/88 Attempt: 13 Poles, 7 Canadians and 4 Brits / made to Camp 3
• 2002/03 Attempt: 14 climbers from Poland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia / made Camp 4
• 2011/12 Attempt: 9 climbers from Russia / made Camp 2
• 2014/15 Near Attempt: Denis Urubko and team lost permit

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

* source: – Everest and K2 in the Winter

** see also – Polish Team Prepares for Winter Ascent of K2.