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The 21st was our date, so we climbed up to the 8,516m of altitude of Lhotse,
around 1 in the afternoon. The spectacle couldn’t be more impressive:
Everest, Nuptse and hundreds more of enormous mountains from our privileged
balcony. Javier was finally by my side on a great summit and we certainly
couldn’t ask for more. Joining us were all our teammates, Juanjo Garra,
Carlos Soria, Juanito Oiarzabal and Lolo González.
A great summit without a doubt and a great effort, especially for those of us
who climbed without artificial oxygen (everyone except Javier Pérez and Carlos
Soria who used it on the way up and in the descent). After these beautiful
moments, a difficult descent to camp four. We all arrived almost at the same
time, except Lolo who was delayed. We got there tired, but as we could expect
for a mountain like this. On the following morning, with no news from Lolo
and struggling to safe our lives, we continued the descent to camp 2.
Very exhausted, but very careful, trying not to make any errors in
this dangerous descent. When we arrived to camp 2, Russell Brice’s
team informs us that they found Lolo above the Turtle (7,950m) and
that Damian Benegas, Matoko and 2 Sherpas from Russell’s team are
carrying him down. We couldn’t be happier, in a short time all our
team will be together in camp 2. I have to thank Patagonian Brothers and
Russell for the huge effort of saving the life of our teammate and for
bringing down two other Spanish climbers of another group who also had
problems.
We slept in camp 2 and on the next morning, after a helicopter took
Lolo, we continued our descent to base camp. Close to base camp,
Juanito collapses and Javier gives his oxygen for his recovery.
Finally we are all at base, exhausted but safe. The doctors Carlos
Martinez, Monicoa Piris and Pablo Diaz are taking care of us at base
camp, daily. Their care has been great and their help is fundamental
for us. They check us and care for us during the night. We are
exhausted, dehydrated but out of danger.
It has been a chaos, many comments from people who were not
here, but the truth is that I could climb Lhotse without artificial oxygen in
the ascent or the descent. The only one who suffered an accident in our team,
Lolo, is alive because the efforts of many people and Juanito has suffered a
little also at the end. I have to deny the unfunded comments of the use of
oxygen (by people who were not even at base camp), except for the cases of
other people which I have mentioned before. I have to thank again to all who
have really and truly helped us in this great expedition and to all my
teammates.
Carlos Pauner
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
Earlier:
It has been confirmed that Lolo González
has been rescued by
helicopter from camp II to Katmandu. The rest of the climbers are
descending by their own to base camp. At 13:30h we have not received the
call from Carlos to confirm that he has arrived, but it is not important
because we don’t know the departure hour from camp II; anyway we suppose
that they are descending slowly.
TO THE MEDIA:
We beg and thank the media not to call the satellite phone of the
climber because it has to be free for the things we need to manage
now. When they get to camp and inform us about the situation, we will
inform on how to make the interviews. Thanks for your cooperation.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
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LOLO evacuted from camp 4 by helicopter this morning
21:00H LOLO IS IN CAMP II
We got a call from base camp in Lhotse to inform that Lolo González has
arrived to camp II in better shape than what was expected. He is with
all his teammates.
Tomorrow by the morning, if the weather permits, he will be evacuated
from camp II in Lhotse to Katmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Now, all the members of the expedition are in camp II. They will spend
the night there under medical control. If everything continues the same,
we won’t have news from the group until tomorrow morning.
17:30H CALL FROM CARLOS PAUNER
Carlos Pauner called ten minutes ago to communicate with a weak voice
that he reached camp II with the help of Oiarzábal and Pérez. He wanted
to transmit some calm about his health.
Although the quality of the communication was not good, he said that he
is better than in the previous hours, he is extremely tired and the
doctors have taken good care of him. “I am really exhausted, now I only
want to rest”, said Pauner.
At first he commented about the possibility of going down by his own
feet to base camp tomorrow, but they will have to see if this is
possible or not with the rest of the team and even with the doctors.
The climbers of the expedition led by Pauner will spend the night in
camp II. If everything goes well, we won’t have more news from him
today.
We are still following the situation of his teammate Lolo González who
is being carried down in a gurney to camp II. If the weather permits,
they will try to evacuate him from Lhotse tomorrow.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
16:10H NERIN CONFIRMS THE HEALTH STATUS OF PAUNER
Through a text message that we have just received from Doctor María
Antonia Nerín, she confirms that “it looks like they arrived fine”. It
looks like the doctor’s instructions of using oxygen and the loss of
altitude helped the man from Aragón to get to camp II in better shape
than expected.
15:47H PAUNER, PÉREZ AND OIARZÁBAL “PRETTY GOOD” IN CAMP II
According to direct information from Doctor Nerín, which we thank, she
says that Juanjo Garra has reached camp II an hour and a half ago, where
he met Miguel Ángel Pérez, Carlos Soria and Jorge Salazar.
About Lolo, Nerín said that he continues being carried down to II and it
look like there are no fractures in his legs. The doctor said she needs
to examine the climber for a final diagnose.
About Pauner, the news we are getting are hopeful. Pauner, Pérez and
Oiarzábal have reached camp II about half an hour ago; they took more
time than expected because they stopped in camp III to sleep a little
and to rest. Dr. Nerín is optimistic with respect of the health of
Pauner.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
15:21H PAUNER’S CURRENT SITUATION
Juanjo Garra is in camp II.
Pauner, Pérez and Oiarzábal have not reached camp II, so they should be
still descending; in base camp there is an expedition that thinks they
are close to reach 6,400 meters in camp II.
We will continue posting as news arrive.
14:23H THE EVACUATION OF LOLO GONZÁLEZ TO CAMP II HAS STARTED.
We could learn that the man from Málaga is being carried down to camp
II. We have been informed that they are below the yellow stripes, around
7,500m, thanks to the work of Shepas from Himex and Damián Benegas and
Matoco.
We will continue following the situation of the climbers on Lhotse.
SITUATION ON LHOTSE AT 13:22H
Carlos Pauner, Javier Pérez, Juanjo Garra, Juanito Oiarzabal and Carlos
Soria are in camp II. Lolo González is in camp IV.
The expedition led by Carlos Pauner, which includes Javier Pérez, Juanjo
Garra, Juanito Oiarzabal, Carlos Soria and Lolo González has had serious
problems during the descent after crowning the summit of Lhotse
yesterday. The situation was as follows: Carlos Pauner reaches the
summit with Javier Pérez, Juanito Oiarzabal and Juanjo Garra around
10:00 (Spain time and 13:45 local time); Carlos Soria had done it a few
hours earlier and after the summit he goes down without problems to camp
IV along with his Sherpa, in good shape.
The group that reached the summit at 10:00h slowly descends without
problems to camp IV. The first to reach the camp around 15:00 (Spain
time) is Oiarzabal, followed by Javier Pérez, Juajo Garra and Carlos
Pauner who appears to arrive with symptoms of severe brain swelling
(according to Dr. Nerín’s diagnose). According to the information we
have so far, it looks like Pauner spends the night with oxygen and gets
medical instructions from base camp.
Meanwhile, Lolo González got lost in the descent after reaching the
summit at 13:45 (Spain time). He was found today and was rescued thanks
to the solidarity of diverse climbers that made a huge effort to bring
him down from 7,950m to camp IV, where they are waiting for his
evacuation.
Very early today, Carlos Pauner, Javier Pérez, Juanjo Garra and Carlos
Soria have started the descent from camp IV to II. It was a very slow
descent and it looks that they are in camp II by now (although we have
no official confirmation). According to information we got from Dr.
Nerín, all except Carlos, the other three climbers and in good health
shape. The information we are getting is from Dr. Nerín and from other
expeditions in base camp, which we thank for their work.
From Carlos Pauner’s website we thank the patience and prudence of the
media about this situation. In the same way, we beg not to call to the
satellite phones of any of them because it is absolutely necessary to
have fluent conversations between them and to save the battery.
We will continue posting as we get more information.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
PAUNER AND HIS TEAMMATES REST IN CAMP IV
The climber in Pauner’s expedition have reached camp IV after six hours
of hard descent. His voice shows the effort they are making to descend
from Lhotse, which is not easy at all.
They are now better, after eating and melting snow. Even so, they
decided to spend the night at 7,900m and tomorrow with the first rays of
the sun they will continue descending.
We will continue posting as we get more news from the climber.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
earlier:
PAUNER RAISES HIS PIOLET ON THE SUMMIT OF LHOTSE
At 10:08 in the morning (Spain time) Carlos said “I am on the summit, I
call from the summit of Lhotse”. With a clearly exhausted voice but
excited, he said that they finally crowned the summit at 09:50 (Spain
time). The first thing he said is that he is on top of Lhotse with
Javier Pérez, Juanito Oiarzábal and Juanjo Garra, tired but in good
shape and focused on the descent. Carlos Soria, from Madrid, has also
reached the summit, but before everyone else because his ascent with
artificial oxygen was faster. Javier Pérez, after a long experience on
the Himalayas as a climber and as a high altitude camera man, has
crowned his first eight-thousand and it was not any summit, it was the
fourth highest mountain on the world. The weather has been as
forecasted, although at 10:00h it was snowing on the summit, so without
any delay, the team of climbers was starting their descent.
Now they face difficulties ahead, because they have been above 8,000
meters for two days, a lot of hours of hard ascent and they are
considerably tired. Pauner has the intention of losing altitude as soon
as possible and to go down to camp IV; there they will melt ice
to hydrate as much as possible. Then they will decide if they continue
going down or if they rest at 7,900m to continue tomorrow. We will
continue posting when Carlos calls from camp IV, until then, caution, as
Carlos always says: “A summit is not celebrated until you get down to
base camp”. With the summit of Lhotse, this man from Aragón adds his
eleventh eight-thousand in the race to reach the summit of the fourteen
highest mountains of the Planet. Congratulations to all the team,
especially to Javier Pérez.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
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PAUNER, Perez AND THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION HAVE
REACHED 7,900M. THE REAL SUMMIT ATTACK BEGINS
The Spanish expedition led by Carlos Pauner has reached camp IV around 09:00h
and they are in excellent shape. The ascent has been very hard as it was
clearly noted in the voice of the climber from Aragón. Carlos and the rest of
the expedition left at 03:00h (Spain time) and they arrived around 09:30h.
That means that the ascent was longer than seven hours to an altitude above
7,000 meters, where the lack of oxygen makes the route extremely hard and
exhausting. They went up the known yellow ramps (common for Lhotse and
Everest) and when they reached 7,900m they mounted the tents to spend the
night. “After the hard ascent of today, we finally mounted the tents; now that
we are inside we will melt ice to avoid dehydration and we will eat
something”, adds Pauner with a fatigued voice because of the lack of oxygen
and the exhaustion. “I feel strong and I trust that if the weather stays as
until now, tomorrow after nine hours of ascent I could raise my piolet on the
top of Lhotse”, said Carlos. Since they are three and forty five minutes ahead
of Spain, Carlos and Javier Pérez and the rest of the expedition will leave
today at 20:00h (Spain time) with the objective of reaching the summit at
around 05:00 (Spain time). These are always approximate times and can vary
according to different inconveniences that they can meet in the ascent. Their
intention is to summit early to be able to start the descent with the light of
the sun and avoid the risks of going down at night. He said in his telephone
call that the weather is giving them a truce, “we are happy because it is not
excessively cold, during the day and with sun we are around 20 degrees Celsius
below zero”, said Carlos. The next call will be, we hope, from the summit of
the fourth highest mountain of the world, Lhotse.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
Earlier:
It was 09:50 in the morning when the climber from Aragón called to say that
all the members of the expedition are fine in camp III of Lhotse. They got
there at 07:30 (Spain time) after marching from camp II (6,400m) to camp III
(7,200m) in four and a half hours. It was faster than what they expected. “I
am really tired, it was hot, but the ice wall was better than last week
because it had more snow and that helped on the way up”, said Pauner. The
climber is worried about the weather but the previous forecasts that made them
attempt the summit were correct. The weather is stable and it is expected to
continue this way for the next hours. After the scare of the wind storm of
last week in this same camp, they found that the tents were in perfect shape.
This morning, at 02:00 am Spain time, Pauner and the rest of the expedition
will leave to camp IV, located at 7,900 meters of altitude. He thinks that
they will cover those 700m in six hours. Carlos was calm, excited and focused
in this summit attack, he even had time to talk to the media.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
Earlier:
We had a late call from Carlos Pauner because of problems with the satellite
phone, but he finally could contact us with the news that they are installed
at camp II (6,400m). They left last night at 23:00h and they arrived at 05:00
(Spain time). The ascent was fast
but hard; they went through the feared Vally of Khumbu which is full
of crevasses and ladders to get into the Valley of Silence. It was not hot in
this occasion in the valley, which helped them to get to camp II in better
shape than in the previous week. “For the moment the weather forecasts have
been right and there is little wind, we have a sunny day”, said Pauner from
his tent at camp II. All the members of the expedition are in that camp, all
in good shape. According to the climber, he is in the tent with Javier Pérez
taking liquids, food and getting ready to sleep. They will leave tonight at
02:00 (Spain time) to camp III located at 7,100m.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
Earlier:
After a month and a half at base camp, with a few trips to mount the high
altitude camps, the summit attack begins. The weather forecasts point to this
21 (Saturday) as the best day for the expedition led by Carlos Pauner to reach
the summit of Lhotse. There is a forecast of scarce snow and no wind for
Thursday and Friday, which will let them climb and sleep in the different
camps. Tonight at 23:00h (Spain time) they will leave base camp and if
everything goes as planned, after seven hours they will reach camp II, at
7,100 m, they will spend the night there and they will continue climbing one
camp per day. Camp IV will be mounted on the go on Friday night; they will
rest there and they will recover for the nine hours that separate them from
the summit. In this summit attempt, all the members of the expedition will go,
Javier Pérez, Juanito Oiarzábal, Lolo, Juanjo Garra and Carlos Soria. Carlos
has mentioned his good physical shape, “although we are all alone up there and
we only count with what our bodies can give, a strong group of Spaniards will
attempt the summit”, said the man from Aragón. “I am in good physical shape,
recovered from my health problems and my mind is set for this titanic effort
that waits ahead”, said Pauner. The expedition counts with the support of two
high altitude Sherpas and a third for Carlos Soria. In this occasion and as an
exception, Javier Pérez will have oxygen, just in case, although he did not
have any problems during his recent climb to camp III.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
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5/14:
After our particular episode at camp III, our only
attention is on the weather forecasts that try to find that window of
definitive good weather for the summit of Lhotse. Our hope rose as foam
when we found a good forecast for the days of 15-16. We had only a few
days of rest, but it was worth to try and finish this up. Checking the
forecasts, the thing was not clear and caution has made us stay here one
more day before taking off to the top. Good decision! Today the weather
forecasts point to a general deterioration and tens of climbers that
tried to reach the highest point of Everest had to turn around, hit by
merciless winds in high altitudes on the mountain. It looks like there
is no window for the moment and we only have to wait. We know what this
is like, we have suffered it in many other mountains. But we have to
feel lucky that we did not waste ourselves in vain, taken by our
enthusiasm. We are still here, at base camp, healing our throats,
looking at the sky, now covered and windy, waiting our opportunity, our
slice of good weather to take off like wild animals to the conquest of
our dream. Calm, for the moment, tense calm and nerves of steel.
Carlos Pauner
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
5/11: STILL AT BASE CAMP
As usual, Carlos has contacted us to tell us that they
will stay several days at base camp, because the probable window of good
weather may not be certain. Resting, thinking, eating well and healing
what remains of health problems is what the members of the Spanish
expedition, led by Carlos Pauner, are doing right now. Although the
expedition started with several inconveniences, the men from Aragon say
they are happy with the work they have done, looking at the sky once
again, waiting for the fifth mountain in the world to give them a
chance.
Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera
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Earlier:
Our intention of
installing camp 3 at 7,100 m of altitude and spending the night there has
become a reality. From the comfort of camp 2 at 6,400 m of altitude, we
arrived to the tiny location of our tents in a few hours. For that, we
climbed the part known as the Lhotse wall, a wall of ice of 50° of inclination
that leads to a more flat terrain where we installed our tents. It is a small
balcony hanging in the giant wall of ice. To our feet, the whole Valley of
Silence and a nice sun that did not forecast the shaky night we had in store.
Around 7 in the afternoon,
already inside our sleeping bags, a terrible wind began to blow. It was
constant at the beginning, but little by little it transformed in violent
gusts that made us fear of our own integrity. The hurricane roared all night
and we had to hold our tent all night, begging not to be suddenly swept from
this slope. Cold, snow in the interior and anguish for finding a moment of
weakness from Eolo and be able to escape from this mouse hole.
Finally, around 6 in the
morning we decided to escape from this hell, rappelling the ice wall, shaken
by the persistent wind. Without a doubt, toward base camp, to rest and try to
forget this bad night in high altitudes. Luckily nothing happened, we stood
up, although there are a lot of destroyed tents in camps 2 and 3. The night
took its toll.
Now, relaxing at base
camp, I try to recover under the warm sunshine. I enjoy good food made by
Juanito (of course), a have a nice cup of wine from my friends of Cariñena and
taste a good coffee from home (thanks to my friends of Orús). I dream that we
will soon have that coveted window of good weather and that in a few days we
could reach the 8,516 m of this great mountain called Lhotse.
Carlos Pauner
Translated from Spanish by
Jorge Rivera
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