Mount Annapurna has recorded the first ascent of the season with at least twelve climbers making it to the top of the tenth highest peak, expedition organizers said.
Seven climbers from Seven Summit Treks and six members of 8K Expedition reached the summit of Annapurna I (8091 m) on Thursday noon, shortly after the ropes were laid above the camp IV.
“Three climbers and five Sherpas made their way to the summit at 11.25,” Lakpa Sherpa of 8K expedition agency told the Everest Chronicle adding, “We are very excited.”
The successful summiteers from 8K include Norwegian Kristin Harila, Pasdawa Sherpa, Lakpa Nuru Sherpa and Lakpa Thenduk Sherpa, according to Lakpa Sherpa. The agency still has five climbers and their Sherpa guides waiting for the summit push.
The successful members from Seven Summit Treks include Adriana Brownlee, Dorota Lidia Samocko, Glga Koroleva, Gelje Sherpa, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa Dawa Sherpa and Chhangba Sherpa, the organizer said.
Harlia, who became the fastest woman to climb Everest and Lhotse in a record 12 hours last year, plans to summit all 14 peaks in six months. She will also attempt four 8000ers – Kanchanjunga, Makalu, Everest and Lhotse – before heading to Pakistan to climb the other eight mountains in mid-June. If she succeeds, she will beat the record recently set by Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja and chronicled in the Netflix documentary film 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.
She will attempt Dhaulagiri next. “She will head for Dhaulagiri as soon as she arrives at the base camp, where climbing members are waiting for her,” said Lhakpa Sherpa of 8k Expeditions.
British climber Adriana Brownlee is in a race to become the youngest person to reach all 14 summits above 8000m. This is her fourth eight-thousander and plans to climb six more peaks above 8000 meter this year. The 21-year-old has climbed Everest, Manaslu and Dhaulagiri.
After returning from Annapurna, she will be heading to Kanchenjunga, according to Adriana’s father Tony Brownlee. “As she will now acclimatize, she can move for the summit with the rest of the team,” he told Everest Chronicle.
Taiwanese climber Grace Tseng reached the summit without using supplemental oxygen. She has become the youngest female climber to climb the 10th highest mountain without using bottled oxygen at the age of 29. This is her sixth eight-thousander.
Grace’s goal is to become the first Taiwanese woman to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000 meter. She has climbed Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna.
