Comments on: Abele Blanc’s new attempt on Annapurna

By: Location Independence; The Possibilities are ENDLESS

Location Independence; The Possibilities are ENDLESS — Sat, 07 May 2011 13:45:32 +0000

[...] excuses do we have when we’re living on a planet with people like; - Abele Blanc scaling Annapurna, his last 8000m mountain on this 7th attempt. - Douglas Cairns, flying to the [...]

By: xi'an

xi'an — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:02:36 +0000

Unfortunately, the death of Tolo Calafat last Thursday shows how deadly Annapurna does remain... The three other Spanish climbers of the group had to be airlifted from Camp 4 at 7500m by a highly improbable helicopter rescue that would have been impossible even one year ago. The new availability of airlifted rescue is a mixed blessing: I am obviously quite glad that those three Spanish climbers made it back to base camp and I wish Tolo Calafat could have been saved as well. However, the possibility of being rescued this way will necessarily induce more people to try 8000m's with no thoughts for the way back and for preserving strength and energy. The appeal of the ultimate place with no outside interference will have vanished, while the life of the rescuers will be endangered by the poor assessment of the climbers' own ability and stamina.

By: xi'an

xi'an — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:01:25 +0000

Indeed, this one is “easier” (on a relative scale!)

By: erkan

erkan — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:56:11 +0000

Ah! A slip of tongue. I was thinking of Cho Oyu when I wrote the earlier comment.

By: xi'an

xi'an — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:06:12 +0000

Annapurna is much harder than Everest: the fatality rate is 40%, No other 8000 is as dangerous. Abele Blanc already tried five times Annapurna and lost one climbing partner the last time he tried…

By: erkan

erkan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:08:10 +0000

Annapurna is supposed to be the easiest of 8000′s. It is somewhat baffling that he is acclimatizing on a more difficult mountain (Everest’s Tibet face) to climb an easier one.