Nanga Parbat (8,126m), the ninth highest mountain in the world and often called the ‘Killer Mountain’, has been summited for the first time in winter.
At the end of 2015, The North Face alpinists Simone Moro (Italy) and Tamara Lunger (Italy) set out from Europe to attempt the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat and after more than 80 days on the mountain, Simone, along with Alex Txikon (Spain) and Ali Sadpara (Pakistan), has successfully summited the mountain on 26th of February 2016 via the Kinshofer Route. Tamara Lunger reportedly stopped just short of the summit, however, this is still to be confirmed. Tamara and Simone’s expedition was also sponsored by Gore-Tex.
This first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat marks Simone’s fourth first winter ascent of an 8,000m peak (Shisha Pangma, Makalu, and Gasherbrum II). During winter, temperatures on Nanga Parbat can easily drop to -40 degrees Celsius during the day, and winds can pick up to 50km/hour or more. Nanga Parbat was first climbed by way of the Rakhiot Flank in 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, but has since then claimed many lives of accomplished and experienced alpinists since then. While there had been a handful of successful summits of the mountain, no one has made an ascent of Nanga Parbat in winter until now.
The last attempt Simone made on a winter ascent of Nanga Parbat was in 2014, with fellow The North Face alpinist David Goettler (Germany) and Emilio Previtali (Italy). The team took the Schell Route on the Rupal Face back then, but was forced to turn back due to bad weather and various ailments associated with extreme cold and exhaustion.
Keep watching The North Face’s website for the full story documenting their success.
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