File Dated: 27th February, 2016
As per the reports coming from the Base Camp, the Killer Giant has been taken down by three of the resilient mountaineers, all of whom have at least tried twice in the past to conquer the mighty 8,126m peak in the rugged Western Himalayas of Pakistan. The news arrived in the evening of February 26, that the three of the four mountaineers Ali Sadpara (Pakistan), Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger (Italy) and Alex Txikon (Spain) have successfully reached the summit of the Killer Mountain thoroughly supported by ideal weather conditions during the ascent.
This also concludes the three decade long struggle of numerous mountaineers who tried to scale Nanga for the first winter ascent. Kicked off by ambitious Polish climbers led by the legendary Andre Zawada, it also marks the sad reality that this ascent did not have any Polish climber in it. There has been at least one Polish climber in most of the 8000ers scaled in winters.
No fewer than four international teams launched their bid from the Diamir side simultaneously to scale the peak which has never been climbed in winters. Leading Polish climber Adam Bielecki met an accident while fixing ropes and had to disengage. Tomek and Elizabeth followed later after waiting in Camp 3 for three days hoping to barge into a weather window which would allow them to launch a summit push. They called it a day after bracing high winds and extreme low temperatures. Italian Daniele Nardi-part of Alex Txikon team, also gave in after disagreements with team mates.
Simone and Tamara with relatively strong financial backings stayed back waiting to launch their summit bid at their own convenience. The base camp received heavy snowfall and blizzards at the start of the February, forcing the only two teams to join hands, giving rise to one of the most experienced and resilient climbing teams for the summit bid.
Simone and Tamara after long discussions gave up the Messner 2000 route and decided to join Alex on the much explored Kinshofer route taking up the now outdated Classic style of climbing. The only hiccup that will have researchers thoroughly examine the credibility of the summit claim is the fact that Alex’s GPS tracker that was reportedly held by Ali Sadpara stopped giving real time location just a few meters short of the main summit. As per the tracker, the climbers returned to Camp 4 from a point which is almost 100 m on the south east of the summit. The photographs and other evidences will eventually prove the authenticity of the summit claim although both teams have officially declared the bid to be a success.