Shisha ghost climber out of the shade - Lafaille summit push tomorrow!
Dec 10, 2004 11: 15 EST
Simone and the guys are back on Shisha to finish what they started last year - the first winter ascent of the mountain.
Simone dispatched back some days ago: "When we arrived in Nepal we heard about one climber attempting Shisha alone right now. Nobody knows who he is and he ordered people he met not to say anything about him... we got information that he could be French but it's no confirmed news. In any case, winter begins on December 21 and we will start our expedition to Shisha only after that date."
Jean-Christophe Lafaille
Most guessed that the ghost climber was Jean-Christophe Lafaille. Today, it was confirmed on his website. November 8, 2004, Jean-Christophe flew to Nepal, and arrived BC on the 14.
He began to establish high camps through end November. The weather was nice but with high winds at altitude. The conditions of the South Face are overall dry. The original route he had planned was in poor condition, so he decided to open an alternative up to 7000 meters of altitude of the open British route in 1982 by A.MacIntyre - R.Baxter-Jones and D.Scott.
Katia Lafaille spoke to Jean-Christoffe yesterday, after he arrived at his bivouac located at 7100 meters of altitude. He felt great. Today, Jean-Christophe will scout the route and spend another night in the bivouac at 7000m. He hopes to summit tomorrow - December 11, and return to BC the next day.
This is Jean-Christophe's second attempt since 1996 on Shisha in the cold season.
Up until now only 7 out of all 14 eight-thousanders have been winter climbed, all located, partially at least, in Nepal. All first winter accents were made by Polish climbers, from Everest in 1980 to Lhotse in 1988 - the last time someone set foot on a virgin summit higher than 8000m during the winter. They were all classic winter climbs, made within the “calendar winter,” from December 21 to March 21.
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