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Action on Annapurna: Piotr Pustelnik to attempt South Face!
Feb 1, 2005 18: 15 EST
Annapurna, the most dangerous of the 14 8000ers, could steal the Everest show this spring. The world’s top climbing stars will gather on its slopes.
Bonnington Route
A few days ago, ExWeb broke the news on Silvio Mondinelli's expedition and today we learned that a new team led by Polish climber Piotr Pustelnik will be attempting one of the most difficult feats in mountain climbing.
In a mail to ExWeb, Piotr writes, “We are ready to come back to the Bonnington Route on South Face of Annapurna in Spring 2005. My mixed Polish-Slovak team will arrive KTM on March 21.”
South side more technical
Both Viesturs, Gustavsson, Mondinelli and Merelli have already attempted the highly difficult south face of Annapurna and decided to give it a try to the North face this spring. The north side of the mountain is physically demanding and very exposed to avalanches, although not as technical as the south.
Last year, Piotr attempted Annapurna. After weeks of fighting its vertical, exposed walls, he ended his climb just a few meters away from success. In the middle of a storm and running out of time, the team launched a summit bid without having fixed the last 1200-1300 meters with fixed ropes. “We will try to start the final attack from this low camp, keep your fingers crossed for us, for the weather...wish us luck,” Piotr said, before the summit bid.
Come back another day - but never give up
The climbers fought a hard battle, but in the end, Annapurna and the weather were just too strong. “There was a terrible storm with heavy snowfalls. Camp II was ruined within 2 hours and in the morning we were forced to descend to Camp I, as there was no chance to climb up in such terrible weather conditions. Well, you can't always win...,” Piotr said. The team made it back to BC to fight another day. And that day will come this spring!
The Polish ace has summited 12 8000ers. If he manages to summit Annapurna, only Broad Peak will be left for him to complete all 14.
With 12 of the 14, 8000ers completed, Piotr has climbed Gasherbrum II twice (1990 and 1997), Nanga Parbat in 1992, Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma Main in 1993, Dhaulagiri in 1994, Everest in 1995, K2 from the North in 1996, Gasherbrum I in 1997, Lhotse in 2000, Kangchenjunga in 2001, and Makalu in 2002.
Annapurna was the very first 8,000m peak ever summited. In 1950, French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal used only a rough map as a guide, and picked their way up an untried route to the summit. Their descent turned into a hellish nightmare, leaving them near death, with their extremities completely deadened by frostbite. Herzog and Lachenal survived their ordeal, but too many others have tragically lost their lives over the years.
On Christmas Day 1997, Anatoli Boukreev was killed in an avalanche, an event that shocked the mountaineering community. In total, only 130 climbers have summited Annapurna.
This spring, two strong teams will be attempting North side of Annapurna: one led by Ed Viesturs and including Veikka Gustafsson, another Italian team led by Silvio Mondinelli.
Image of Piotr in Camp I during last year’s attempt to Annapurna south face, courtesy of Piotr Pustelnik
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