Kangchenjunga: One Climber Dead, Another Stranded in Camp 4
Margareta Morin of France died on Kangchenjunga yesterday. At 63, this was her first 8,000'er. Meanwhile, British climber Adrian Hayes is seriously sick in Camp 4, and bad weather has thwarted attempts to rescue him.
Once again, expedition operators reported the summits on May 10 but didn't mention any problems. Adrian Hayes was listed in the summit report, alongside Uta Ibrahimi, who completed her 14x8,000m list and is safely back in Base Camp.
Morin never made it to the summit. Yogendra Tamang from the outfitter Peak 15 Adventure told The Himalayan Times that Morin fell ill during her summit push and passed away at 7,800m. IFMGA guide Tendi Sherpa guided Morin.
Adrian Hayes fell sick with serious acute mountain sickness symptoms on the upper sections of Kangchenjunga while descending from the summit. Climbers brought him to Camp 4.
"Once the weather allows, we will evacuate him from the lower camps," Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told The Himalayan Times.
Hayes, 64, is a well-known explorer and speaker in the UK. He has summited Everest and made trips to the North and South Poles in a record one year and 217 days, between 2006 and 2007. In 2014, he summited K2. He has also made a north-to-south traverse of Greenland's Icecap and crossed the Arabian desert on foot and camel, following in the footsteps of British explorer Sir William Thesiger. Before Kangchenjunga, he attempted Pumori.
A group of climbers launched a Kangchenjunga summit push on May 8, taking advantage of a weather window, even though ropes were not fixed to the summit. The day before, the team responsible for laying the ropes, led by EliteExped's Nirmal Purja, had to turn around in rapidly worsening weather. They were roughly 150-200 vertical meters below the summit.
EliteExped posted about the decision on their social media.
Purja, one of Elite Exped's directors and the company founder, said: "The team set around 11,000m of rope from Base Camp toward the summit, but unfortunately, we were forced to turn back just short of the summit because of the extreme conditions. Safety is 100% the priority. The conditions were extremely challenging, it was a full-on whiteout and extremely cold. We made the right choice to prioritize safety, and 100% of the team is safe and no one suffered injuries."
Asked by ExplorersWeb, Purja confirmed that his team intended to return to the higher sections of Kangchenjunga and finish the rope-fixing work "after potentially three days, weather depending."
"If other teams go up on a summit push in the meantime, they do this in full knowledge that ropes are fixed almost all the way to the summit, but not to the final summit point," Purja wrote. "This is a risk they have to calculate, and it is their decision."
But according to an SMS sent by Uta Ibrahimi over Inreach, the climbers who launched their summit push last weekend only found out the ropes were not ready as they reached Camp 3. The SMS is reproduced below, without edits:
Still same drama with fixing! Once we know fixing summit, and after on SM we understand that the fixing is not completed! We r on summit push.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Iconic ‘80s singer cancels show last minute as travel-weary band ‘can barely see'
Steven Morrissey canceled his concert in Stockholm, Sweden after stating that he has 'zero music industry support.' The concert would have been held on June 23 according to Morrissey's announcement, which was made on Sunday via his website. 'The pain at not reaching Stockholm this week is horrific for the band and crew,' he wrote. 'I know it's impossible for people to understand, but we dream of Stockholm, Reykjavik, Trondheim, Helsinki, Aarhus... but there is no financial support from imaginary record labels to get us to such places.' Morrissey added that in the last seven days they have traveled to six countries and they are 'travel-weary beyond relief. We can barely see.' 'We pray to God that someone, somewhere can help us reach Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark... where we have thousands upon thousands of friends, yet absolutely zero music industry support,' the artist added. 'No label will release our music, no radio will play our music... yet our ticket sales are sensational. What does this tell us about the state of Art in 2025?' No other Scandinavian shows were booked for the tour and ticket holders for the Stockholm concert were told, 'Due to exhaustion among the band and crew, the Morriseey headline engagement at Hovet has been canceled. Refunds will be available at the point of purchase,' according to NME. Morrissey was the frontman of the British rock sensation the Smiths in the 1980s. Since then, he has undertaken a successful solo career releasing over a dozen albums and winning numerous awards. When the singer announced the cancellation on Instagram, he received some mixed feedback from fans. 'God bless you Moz love you,' one fan wrote. 'Very disappointing,' someone else said. 'My little niece was very much looking forward to her very first Morrissey concert. I've seen you like maybe 15 times so personally I'll survive, but Another individual wrote 'This reasoning makes absolutely zero sense.' Meanwhile another commenter said, 'I hope you're all getting the rest you need and deserve.' Morrissey's next show in Berlin on June 27 is still on. The tour continues through Europe through the summer and moves to the United States and Canada in September and October. United States and Canada dates of the Morrissey tour include: Wednesday, Sept. 10: Montreal Saturday, Sept. 13: Toronto Tuesday, Sept. 16: New York Friday, Sept. 19: Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Conn. Saturday, Sept. 20: Boston Tuesday: Sept. 23: Pittsburgh Thursday, Sept. 25: Philadelphia Saturday, Sept. 27: Chicago Monday, Sept. 29: Milwaukee Thursday, Oct. 2: Denver Saturday, Oct. 4: Salt Lake City Tuesday, Oct. 7: Seattle Thursday, Oct. 9: Eugene, Ore. Saturday, Oct. 11: Berkeley, Calif. Tuesday, Oct. 21: Tucson Friday, Oct. 24: Rancho Mirage, Calif. Saturday, Oct. 25: Los Angeles Morrissey ended his message: 'I love all of you with whatever is left of my doomed heart.' Wayland police investigating how over 100 packages were left in the trash Wander Franco, Rays shortstop, found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor Investigations editor for The Republican honored for her collaboration with NEPM Level 3 sex offender from Dorchester convicted of kidnapping boy at gunpoint Bellingham police sergeant on leave after suspected OUI, crash in R.I. Read the original article on MassLive.
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Newsweek
Couple Fly Off for 'Relaxing' Vacation, Wake Up to Nightmare Mid-Flight
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A couple jetting off for a "relaxing" vacation together in Dubai got a shock when they woke mid-flight to discover they were instead heading to Zurich in Switzerland. Ruby Croxford, 24, and her partner Jack, who are from Hampshire in the U.K., had been looking forward to spending 10 nights together in the United Arab Emirates. "We were going to Dukes The Palm in Dubai," Croxford told Newsweek. "Everyone said how great Dubai was, so we wanted to see what it was all about and have a nice relaxing break." The trip started out relaxing enough and, a couple of hours into their British Airways flight, both Ruby and Jack nodded off, assuming that they would eventually wake up in Dubai—but that wasn't the case. "We both woke up at one point about 2 a.m. U.K. time and the flight map time had increased to three hours but was appearing to show that we were stuck near Cairo," Croxford said. "We thought it was a glitch with the system so went back to sleep." Yet, within a couple more hours, they would wake again to discover their plane was being forced to make a dramatic U-turn. "Just before 5 a.m. we woke up to a captain's announcement, we thought we were coming into land, but he told us that the U.S. had attacked Iran overnight," Croxford said. "Air-traffic control and national security had come to a tough decision and, for our own safety, we had to turn around. He apologized and said that our safety was our main priority." From left: Jack and Ruby flash peace signs; but the couple ended up in Switzerland. From left: Jack and Ruby flash peace signs; but the couple ended up in Switzerland. TikTok/rubytuesday30_ British Airways moved to cancel flights from London Heathrow to Dubai and Doha on Sunday in the wake of President Donald Trump's missile strike on Iran. Flights that had already taken off, meanwhile, were diverted. A statement from British Airways to British newspaper The Telegraph said: "As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority. We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation." Croxford wouldn't be heading home just yet, though. "We didn't have enough fuel to get back to the U.K. so we were diverted to Switzerland," she said. "The crew had worked their maximum hours so needed a break before they could fly again. We were told we would either have to wait until the crew rested to return back to Heathrow or wait until another crew were flown to Switzerland." Read more Gen Z on vacation captures moment hundreds of missiles fly toward Israel Gen Z on vacation captures moment hundreds of missiles fly toward Israel Despite the upheaval and uncertainty, Croxford was full of praise for the way staff on the flight handled the situation. "They were calm and very attentive, answering people's questions, and they also helped a young boy who needed to get home to Dubai," she said. "I take my hat off to them as some customers were moaning at them." That didn't stop Croxford from being left "completely shocked" at what was unfolding. "We didn't actually know what had happened until we connected to the WiFi on the plane and told our family. They explained everything and told us to come straight home and not get back on a flight to Dubai." Croxford said how other passengers were "panicking" and "arguing with staff" when they arrived in Switzerland. They felt differently, though. "We were just thankful and grateful to be out of the situation and safe. Switzerland is beautiful, and we did feel safe landing there," she said. After a couple of hours' delay, the couple departed back on a flight bound for London before heading straight home. It made for quite the experience and one Croxford felt compelled to share to social media in a video posted under the handle @rubytuesday_. At the time of writing, the clip has been watched over 579,000 times. And there was a happy ending. Croxford was able to get a full refund for their holiday to Dubai, and the couple are now off enjoying the sunshine in Tenerife. "We won't be returning to Dubai anytime soon; we want to wait until everything has calmed down and settled," Croxford said. Newsweek has reached out to British Airways for comment.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Foreign Office statement after mum gets Turkey travel ban over 'drunken mistake' during trip for boyfriend's new teeth
The Foreign Office has issued a statement after a mum from Greater Manchester was put on a travel ban in Turkey during a trip for her boyfriend's new teeth. Georgia Harrison, 32, from Whitworth in Rochdale, was arrested alongside her partner after making the 'worst mistake of her life' while drunk in a hotel room last month. The mum had spent the night celebrating her boyfriend getting his new veneers as part of the trip when she says she blacked out and smashed the glass bathroom screen. The following morning, on May 7, when trying to leave the Lexia Hotel in Antalya without declaring the damage, she was arrested. READ MORE: LIVE: Manchester services hit after train derails causing UK travel chaos - latest updates READ MORE: They had planning permission to build a garage - but built a house Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE She has been put on a travel ban and remained in the country in the seven weeks since the incident. She claimed she was told to pay the sum of £15,000 for the damage and after 'resisting arrest' to have her travel ban removed and appeared in court. What followed has been weeks of turmoil for the Greater Manchester mum, with Georgia previously telling the M.E.N she initially offered a sum of £3,000 and instructed legal representatives to try and fight for the travel ban to be lifted so she could return home with her daughter, aged 12. The Foreign Office has since issued a statement confirming they are in contact with Turkish authorities over the mum's travel ban, which has prevented her from flying back home to Rochdale. An FCDO spokesperson said: 'We are providing support to a British woman who has received a travel ban in Turkey and are in contact with the local authorities." As part of their support overseas, the Foreign Office is able provide the details of where to access interpreters. "I got drunk and I have somehow smashed the shower screen of the hotel room and damaged the room. [It was the] worst mistake of my life. Anyway it's done, I can't change it but wow am I paying for it," Georgia said last week. "I know I did wrong and I regret being so stupid to have damaged the hotel, but I need to get home to my daughter. "I'm sorry I was scared and I just tried to get away from it by trying to leave. Yes it was the wrong thing to do, but I was scared and not thinking straight. Maybe if I didn't, I would be in this mess. I know only I am to blame and my actions are the reason I cannot see my daughter." Since the incident, Georgia claims she has appeared in court and unknowingly signed an agreement to pay back £15,000 in damages, was originally denied a solicitor, and has also been unable to access her vital medication, which she only had a five-day supply of for her original trip. Despite attempts at mediation with legal representatives overseas, she says the travel ban has still not been lifted, with the fine looming over her, and she has since tried to flee the country via plane, a ferry and a day trip to Greece. In an updated public post on Facebook earlier this week, the mum said she has now offered £10,000 in damages to be able to finally fly home, but that she is still 'no closer' to a solution and needs 'to get home to my child'. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for Georgia to pay the fine and support her with costs while staying in Turkey. Donations can be made here. --- Day in day out, our reporters in the Manchester Evening News newsroom bring you remarkable stories from all aspects of Mancunian life. However, with the pace of life these days, the frenetic news agenda and social media algorithms, you might not be getting a chance to read it. That's why every week our Features and Perspectives editor Rob Williams brings you Unmissable, highlighting the best of what we do - bringing it to you directly from us. Make sure you don't miss out, and see what else we have to offer, by clicking here and signing up for MEN Daily News. And be sure to join our politics writer Jo Timan every Sunday for his essential commentary on what matters most to you in Greater Manchester each week in our newsletter Due North. You can also sign up for that here. You can also get all your favourite content from the Manchester Evening News on WhatsApp. Click here to see everything we offer, including everything from breaking news to Coronation Street. If you prefer reading our stories on your phone, consider downloading the Manchester Evening News app here, and our news desk will make sure every time an essential story breaks, you'll be the first to hear about it. And finally, if there is a story you think our journalists should be looking into, we want to hear from you. Email us on newsdesk@ or give us a ring on 0161 211 2920.
