Annapurna update: Edurne & Co back to BC in high winds

(ExWeb/Madrid) "It was impossible - the wind was too high," Edurne Pasaban reckoned. After spending Friday night in a gale at C2 on Annapurna north side, a pesimistic forecast on the following morning put an end to Al filo team summit push plans - for the moment.

The climbers returned back to BC on Saturday, just in time to meet new neighbors such as Xavi Arias and Piotr Pustelnik group.

No further than C2

Edurne Pasaban set off from BC last Friday, hoping for a fast trip to C3 and, conditions permitting, a potential summit push this week. Upon leaving towards C2 the wind was actually higher than the Spaniards had expected though. Things only got worse through the night. A later forecast only confirmed a stormy spell was hitting Annapurna for the next few days.

All further progress proved impossible, but otherwise the climbers returned safely back to BC, where they are since then. Forecast announce no improvement in at least three days. Pasaban is also nursing a rather tough cold she has developed on the recent push up.

On the other hand, the route is fully-fixed and C3 set up above the huge serac which turned Edurne back on a previous attempt three years ago. "It's in great conditions: a smooth snow ramp," Asier Izaguirre told El Correo.

Pustelnik and team, new neighbors in BC

Meanwhile, more teams are settling down in BC. Catalan Xavi Arias is considering to skip Camp 1 and start setting up C2 asap.

Jorge Egocheaga, Martin Ramos returned to BC last Friday after setting up C2 - best as they could, since most of their expedition gear cargo was delayed. All items finally reached BC together with incoming team members, Nick Rice reported. These are Piotr Pustelnik, Peter Hamor, Kinga Baranowska, Horia Colibasanu, Serguey Bogomolov, Evgeniy Vinogradsky and Joao Garcia - all fresh from an attempt on Pumori.

"We spent lunch talking of past expeditions," Rice recalled. "The team global resume is impressive - we have two 13x8000er summiteers at the table, with only Anna to go."

Polish climbers shocked at plane tragedy news

"Weather forecasts are not too good - there's rain in BC, snow in the upper slopes and very high wind on top," Kinga reported.

The Polish climbers are in a rather somber mood - shortly after arrival in BC they were shocked to know that the Polish president, his wife and a large number of parliament members were killed in a plane crash in Russia. A front-line Polish delegation was on their way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of thousands of Poles by Soviet forces during WWII.

Sad news also for Mr. Park

On Annapurna south side, familiar issues have forced Park Young-Seok to leave the expedition for some days.

"His mother passed away, so he flew back to Korea yesterday in order to attend the funeral," ExWeb
Korea correspondent Kyu dam-Lee reported. "However, he will return to Annapurna and resume the climb soon." Young-Seok is currently leading a South Korean team up a new route on Anna south face.

Update 10:00am EST: New summit push plans!

"A fresh forecast today has shown winds will decrease next Saturday - we can't miss the chance!" a happy Edurne just reported. "We will confirm our next movements tomorrow, but may probably set off from BC again on Wednesday, eyeing a summit attempt as soon as the wind drops."