Carlos Pauner : MANASLU resting at Base camp

BACK TO BASE CAMP, NO CAMP II

The Carlos Pauner expedition is today at base camp. They woke up at camp I and they pretended to climb to camp II, but it has not stopped snowing and that cut they goal for today. From camp I to camp II there are 8 hours of march with a difference in altitude of 1,000 meters and unstopping snow; so the danger was
excessive, with bad visibility, risk of avalanches… etc. That is why
they thought is was appropriate to go down to base to wait again for a favorable weather forecast to climb again to mount camp II and end their acclimatization for the next ascent, for a summit attempt.

ATTEMPT TO MOUNT CAMP II

After several days at base camp waiting for the strong rain and snow to stop in the high altitudes, they left at 09:00 (Spain time) to camp I (5800 m) and after four hours of walking and after strong snowfall during the ascent, they will spend the night there. Their plan is to continue on the next day to camp II to do the same operation and to complete their acclimatization. According to the weather forecasts they can continue tomorrow with
their ascent to camp II, where they will spend the night and quickly
go back down to base. If the five members of the expedition, directed by Pauner, can go ahead with their plans, they will attempt a summit attack on the next good weather windows.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

IN THE TRENCHES

Carlos Pauner

After ten days at base camp and a timid incursion to camp 1, here we are still, in our little hole full of water, that feeds daily with
more liquid. The dark skies have not stopped dropping rain on us,
night and day. The protection that offer our tents has been getting
weaker little y little and humidity starts to take everything and
everyone.

We have the feeling of living in one of those trenches that were so
wonderfully described by Ernst Jüger during the First World War,
ducked in some miserable holes, keeping the position, waiting to be
able to get out in some moment to the front line, to the objectives.
In our case, with less misery and less violence, and we wait for this
sea of water to cease for once, we hope that snow stops falling in the high altitudes which has surely buried all our previous work and that we can continue progressing on our way to the top and above all, to abandon once and for all this humid and sickening tedium.

The lack of light also causes lack of energy for all our devices and
it has made us learn how to economize everything and only use what is strictly necessary. With every new morning we watch the sky with hope, but it is always the same, a gray metallic vision that explodes in the form of thick drops of water, expected and hated.

Days go by and we have adapted to this form of life a little miserable
and slowed down. We hope with our hearts that everything comes back to normal and nicer days come to us. For the moment the mountain is inaccessible, defended by its barrier of unstable snow and we can only wait. We are still sheltered in our trench, waiting for the moment to be able to cross the “enemy” lines and have our particular battle with the difficulties that, without doubt, we are going to find on this colossal mountain of the Himalayas.

Carlos Pauner

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

FEELINGS FROM MANASLU: Carlos Pauner

I am once again at the bottom of this fabulous and beautiful mountain of the Himalayas. Everything is very much alike, the same tents, the same landscapes, the same will to get to that far away point hanging in the sky. New teammates are with me in this occasion and I think we form a nice team, motivated and compact. We have just installed ourselves comfortably at these almost 5000 meters of altitude and we have built our little tents city that will be our refuge for a few weeks.

We have a lot of work ahead, well, everything’s ahead, but we know exactly what to do and how to do it. This is the little advantage of going back to the summit where I have been so close. I can’t avoid the memory of that day in April, last year, when just a few steps separated me from the end. However, far from being a burden, this memory makes me want to go up. I want to go back to see everything from that point and to enjoy a nice summit surrounded by good friends. I wish everything ends up nicely, that we live beautiful days on the Himalayas and that I can add that special number 10 to the Aragon mountain climbing. It has been a lot years of hard work to reach that point, but the truth is that I’ve had a lot of happiness and beautiful experiences very difficult to describe.

All this could not have been done without your help, and of all the people from Aragon, and the companies and institutions. Climbing these mountains is an enormous personal satisfaction, but when one represents a noble and brave people like ours, it is even greater. Aragon is a great territory, of fascinating landscapes and extraordinary people.

I can’t avoid the memory of our most emblematic character, José Antonio Labordeta and to congratulate him from this corner for that great award of the Great Cross of Alfonso X the Wise. We are proud of you, of your trajectory and your know-how. I feel lucky to have shared with you some coffees in our Levante, in our neighborhood and I hope to go back to Pilares and share this adventures of distinct kind with another coffee. Thanks for your example.

Carlos Pauner

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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