Shisha Pangma winter summit: Packing up in heavy weather
Jan 17, 2005 10: 05 EST
Simone Moro and Piotr Morawski summited Shisha Pangma Friday January 14 at 1.15 pm (local) after a fast 5 hour climb in very strong winds. They followed the Yugoslavian route on the south face.
Grabbing a chance
The attempt was unexpected. Originally the duo planned to only fix ropes up to the Col, and pitch Camp II. When they noticed that part of the upper route was sheltered, they decided to grab a chance at the summit the next day. It was good they did.
No second attempt
Already the day after the summit a few innocent looking clouds turned the mountain into a white inferno thwarting a second attempt for the remaining climbers. "It's snowing so bad we can't even see the ice screws holding our tents down!" reported Jacek and Darek to their webmaster, and spoke also of an incredible cold. The climbers are now coming down from the mountain - Simone and Piotr arrived BC already yesterday.
Everyone feel great and eager to pack up and head to Kathmandu to celebrate the first virgin winter ascent of an 8000er since 1988.
Up until now only 8 out of all 14 eight-thousanders have been winter climbed. Before the addition of Italian Simone Moro last night, all first winter accents were made by Polish climbers in Calendar winter, from Everest in 1980 to Lhotse in 1988 - the last time (before tonight) someone set foot on a virgin summit higher than 8000m during the winter.
Simone Moro, Piotr Morawski, Jacek Jawien, Dariusz Zaluski and Jan Szulc repeated their winter attempt of last year.
Simone Moro, 37, was the driving force behind this current expedition. He has earlier summited Mount Everest, Broad Peak, Cho Oyu and Lhotse. In 1996, Simone reached the N. Summit of Shisha Pangma. Piotr Morawski took part in the 2003 K2 winter expedition, led by Polish Krzysztof Wielicki.
Image Shisha Pangma 8027 South Face , courtesy of Simone Moro.
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