Spring 2015 | Annapurna: First Summit Push of the Season Begins

Mingma G. Sherpa and Anggeli Sherpa of Dreamers Destination expedition were hoping to complete route fixing till C4 today, while other members were expected to reach C3 this afternoon. As per communication from mountain, the group will be trying to reach the top in next couple of days. Meanwhile, Spaniard Carlos Soria has completed the acclimatization and will be launching summit bid at the end of this month. Climbers from other expeditions have also started reaching BC.

Dreamers Destination Summit Push
Samuli Mansikka, Mingma G. Sherpa, Anggeli Sherpa , Reza Shahlaee, Muharrek Aydin Imrak and Zdravko Dejanovic were first to reach Annapurna this season. After arriving at BC in first week of March, the climbers made multiple acclimatization trips to C2.

Finnish climber Samuli Mansikka wrote from BC on March 18th, “Slept at Camp 2 (5700m) last night and was planning to climb to Camp 3 (6500m) today. Got to the base of the headwall where Sherpa-guides of different teams were starting to fix it. Then I, being the sissy I am, got distracted by the closing weather and decided to retreat to Base Camp.

Annapurna; Source

On March 19th, high wind halted the Sherpa team’s progress to C3. However, following day they were able to set up C3. Other members of the expedition ascended to C2 on Mar 20th and climbed to C3 today.

Today’s update from Samuli Mansikka reads, “Annapurna showed today that it really is dangerous! There's this one hanging glacier and couloir that wants to kill you! Shoot a fair size avalanche on us today. Didn't hit but dusted us good! Anyway got through the icefall and am now at above 6700m looking at Dhaulagiri!

Depending upon weather conditions, the climbers are planning to launch final summit-bid in next couple of days.

Dreamers destination team members in Kathmandu; Source

Carlos Soria
76 years old Spanish climber Carlos Soria returned to BC after spending a night in C1 and two in C2. He has now completed the acclimatization process and will be launching a summit attempt at the end of this month.

With the arrival of spring this weekend, good weather window on Annapurna seems to be extended until the end of March. Therefore Carlos Soria and his colleagues decided to return to Base Camp, to regain strength for the final attack to take place in the coming days,” wrote the Base Camp team. “Annapurna is in very good condition.”

Source

Chris Burke
Chris Burke and Lakpa Sherpa reached  BC in second week of March and have started acclimatization process.

After 5 days at Annapurna Base Camp (4100m) and acclimatization to 4600m, Lakpa and I will be loading up to move to Camp 1 today (18 March) followed by a move up to Camp 2 and we will spend 3-4 days on this rotation,” Chris Burke wrote from Base Camp.

Source

More Teams
Around three dozen climbers and mountain guides are expected to be on Annapurna this season. While many of them are already on the mountain, others will be reaching the mountain soon. American climber Alex Barber tweeted yesterday, “24 hrs till I fly to Nepal for an attempt on Annapurna I (8091m).”

On the other hand, Turkish climber Tunc Findik has decided not to attempt Annapurna, this season. He changed his mind after observing excessive snow and avalanches while trekking in the region.


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