FEATURE

High Spirits on Lunag Ri in Nepal

By quattro media

In November 2015, David Lama and Conrad Anker became the first expedition ever to reach the headwall of Lunag Ri, a 6907 meters high mountain located at the border of Nepal and Tibet. 
 
The combination of an untouched summit and demanding climbing is unusual, often enough, virgin summits in particular are not too challenging from a climbing perspective. Lunag Ri is very difficult from all sides, which is why all previous expeditions to this granite giant – the last attempt was more than two years ago – failed. Austria’s David Lama wanted to make the first ascent of the peak via a new line on its northwest face with his climbing partner, the Himalaya-veteran Conrad Anker from the US.
 
Perfect weather conditions until they had set up basecamp and during acclimatization increased the climbers’ expectations. After less than two weeks in basecamp, they were ready for a summit attempt. “Because of a lack of snow and ice in the lower part of the face, which drastically increased the risk of rockfall, we had to change our planned line of ascent and thus chose a different line through much steeper and more difficult terrain.”
 

Photo courtesy of quattro media

Consequently, the Austrian-American rope team came up with the plan to climb a steep rock wall up to the northwest ridge, from where they would try to make it to the summit the following day. After climbing the difficult wall, the two reached the ridge in the early afternoon. There, they found steep, bottomless snow and bad protection. In return, the ridge offered spectacular exposure. “The climbing was continuously tricky and more complicated than anticipated. There was not a single pitch that you would just walk up,” says Conrad Anker.
 
With only one day of decent weather conditions ahead, the two started their summit attempt at 2 am after an extremely cold bivouac at around 6000 meters. In order to move faster, Lama and Anker decided to stake everything on one card and left behind their bivvy gear. After twelve hours of climbing along the demanding ridge, the only hurdle separating the team from their eagerly anticipated goal was the 300 meters tall headwall. They had both feared what came next: The realization that the summit was out of reach that day, and one or maybe even two open bivouacs without a tent or sleeping bag in temperatures below -25 °C and strong winds was simply too risky. Far more than just fingers and toes were at stake. Even though the decision didn’t feel easy, they agreed: Retreating was the only reasonable option.
 

Photo courtesy of quattro media

On the descent, the Austrian with Nepalese roots and his 53-year-old partner were forced to resort to a time-consuming mix of rappelling, down climbing, and traversing, and so it took them until late at night to reach their bivvy spot that offered shelter from the cold. On the third day, high risk of rockfall forced them to wait until the sun disappeared in the late afternoon before embarking on the final rappels. “Had we reached the summit, our climb would have been perfect,” summarizes David Lama, who’s visited his father’s home village during the expedition. “In turn, we still have our fingers. On the way down, we warmed them in our pockets. They will surely be useful on our next attempt, which we have set our sights on for next year.”