Kangchenjunga 2011: Back in Katmandu

For summit attempt, we had to wait at Kanchenjunga c3 7100 m for 2 days for better weather to arrive. Meanwhile many sherpas and members were already at c4 7500 m, waiting for good weather.. Summit day started 19th evening, 21.30, for me and my partners Dawa Sherpa of Loding and Guntis Brands from Switzerland- all of the team were up and moving by 18.00 before that.... A long, moonlit night followed climbing at the snow-ice gully of gangway up to 8300 metres until dawn. After that we climbed in the summit rocks of Kang. By then particularly due to his oxygen system problems and , due to helping down a hypothermic climber down, Guntis had to go back down from 8200 m. Me and Dawa comtinued to summit, finally climbing the famous chimney just below the summit, and summitting at 09.20 hours in the morning of 20th may. The weather was very fine, no wind, visibility unlimited, with a sea of clouds below. Our team summittted approx 2 hours before us, and we were at the summit with Italian Mario Panzeri, Austrian Christian Strangl, and with a team of Indian climbers. Our expedition organiser Mingma Sherpa of Makalu, finished all 14 8000m peaks with Kang and we are all very proud of him, he is such a nice person and strong climber! Long live Mingma! Staying 30 minutes at summit, we descended by the same route to c4, 7500 m and next day to BC, where it was a very long and tiring descent.

Thanks for folllowing our progress and hope to be around next time with another 8000 m. peak to climb!!!! And of course, great thanks to our sponsors and supporters. Tunc Findik

Turkish Climber Tunc and his friends Dawa, Guntis and Mingma Sherpa SUMMITTED at Kanchenjunga 8586m

Dear Friends and followers
This is Turkish Climber Tunc Findik reporting from Kanchenjunga 4. Camp(7500m.) We have arrived to 4. Camp today with 4-5 hours technical climbing. We will move this evening at 8-9 to go to the summit. We are planning to reach the summit in tomorrow morning at 8-9. Until now 2 russians, 2 frenchs and 3 sherpas have arrived to summit. Kangchenjunga is very huge mountain.
Best wishes from Eastern Nepal,
Tunc Findik

This is Turkish Climber Tunc Findik reporting from Kangchenjunga. We are all set and ready to go to summit, and we are patiently waiting for the right time to go. The right time seems around 18 to 22 may, when, we guess the jetstream winds will be lowest. Meanwhile, at our base camp 5500 m high, we try to keep safe, warm and motivated- in the highest spirits to summit. The weather nowadays seems cloudy, grey and, high up very windy. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Best wishes from Eastern Nepal,

This is Turkish climber Tunc Findik reporting from Kangchenjunga. Recently we climbed to c1 at 6200 m altitude and made a depot. The trip to c1 is quite straightforward and the last 250 m of the trip is climbing on steep blue ice, 55 to 75 degrees and very brittle. C1 is situated at a glacier shoulder and has the excellent views of Kang southwest face, Jannu and Yalung glacier. Our plans for the near future includes sleeping at c1 and c2, then we will almost be ready for the summit attempt, that we think is possible by late may- considering the jetstream wind at 8000 m will subside by then. My climbing partners Guntis Brands and Dawa Sherpa, we all feel safe and acclimatised. All the best from Eastern Nepal

This is turkish climber tunc findik reporting from kang bc. We have been at base camp now for 4 days, which is situated at an altitude of 5500 m and has an excellent view of kang sw face and jannu. Ater the puja ceremony at 18th, we will begin to climb and equip c1 at around 6200 meters. Myslef and my climbing partners guntis brandts and dawa sherpa will be climbing as a team. we all feel very good and hopeful for the upcoming ascent! All the best from kang---tunc findik

This is Turkish climber reporting from Kangchenjunga. This is my first dispatch our expedition has began yesterday. I arrived at Kathmandu with my swiss friend Guntis Brandtf by 4th April and flew by helikopter to Ramze along the Yalung glacier. Ramze at 4600m. is where met our sherpa team. In our team is 1 British, 1 Iranian, 1 Irish, 10 Nepali Sherpas . For a few days we will acclimatize aound Ramze and next week we will establish our basecamp at 5500m. on the yalung glacier.
Tunc Findik