Cho Oyu | 2008 NW side

A Slovenia expedition to Cho Oyu in 2008 via NW side, led by Miha Valic. Summit reached on 3rd October 2008. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6237
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY08313
Peak ID CHOY
Year 2008
Season 3
Host Country 2
Route 1 NW side
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Slovenia
Leaders Miha Valic
Sponsor International Cho Oyu Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Standard
Basecamp Date 2008-09-09
Summit Date 2008-10-03
Summit Time 0945
Summit Days 24
Total Days 28
Termination Date 2008-10-07
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8188
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(09/09,4900m),ABC(12/09,5700m),C1(16/09,6400m),C2(24/09,7150m),C3(02/10,7500m),Smt(03/10)
Route Notes Team originally wanted to climb Cho Oyu, but when Chinese visas not available when they arrived in Nepal, they agreed to Manaslu as an alternative; then belatedly visas were granted, so they reverted to their first choice and went to Cho Oyu. Slovenians on Cho Oyu led by Miha Valic - 28 Jan 2008 Following is based on emails from Tone Skarja, The Slovenian Alpine Federation, of 13 and 17 January, and Tomaz Repar of 28 January. The events of the final days of the Slovenian team on Cho Oyu were the following: 2 October: Perhaj and Valic climbed from C2 to C3. Valic's health was "very bad: he had diarrhoea and also the first signs of edema (his breathing was noisy, rattling)." 3 October: Valic was better. According to Repar, Valic "was a very strong and very good climber. I think that he was not well but he still felt strong enough to go up." (Olivia Cussen, the leader of an IMG team who also summited on the 3rd, said that in descent, she and her teammates met Valic on his way up, and he looked strong.) Valic summited at 12:00 noon (CST) and waited a few minutes for Perhaj to join him; they saw the top of the Everest pyramid above the clouds. They had not used any oxygen and Valic was looking well. They left the summit at 12:30 pm and returned to C3 at 3:00 pm. They took down their tent and descended to C2, which they reached at 5:00 pm. 4 October: They slept late in C2 and left it about 1:30 pm. Perhaj left first alone; Valic left a little later with some climbers, mostly Australians, from the Field Touring Cho Oyu Expedition led by Stuart Remensnyder. When he had descended to the first seracs above C1 at about 6800m, Perhaj saw and heard Valic talking to Remensnyder's members at 4:00 pm. Valic was "very bad," according to both Skarja and Repar. He was badly dehydrated -- he and Perhaj had no water for two days. He was asking for water and medicine for edema, and they were given to him. At the first serac (6800m), it is necessary to use the fixed ropes, and he here he became "nervous" [agitated?], said he had to go down and started descending ahead of them, faster than earlier in the afternoon. But he soon lost consciousness, hanging from the fixed rope, and died, despite the efforts of Ryan Castel from Australia and Arturo Diaz of the Spanish expedition led by Ms. Isabel Asensio to save him. They buried him in "a snow grave." Valic's death was initially attributed to a fall. But Repar says, "I think that he did not fall down, but he lost consciousness and died after that." According to Ms. Asensio, Diaz and his teammate Ms. Vanesa Ortega, found him as they descended from C1 on the 4th. He was attached to the rope at the bottom of the seracs. They and two unidentified Americans [perhaps Australians] spent two hours trying to revive him, then had to leave. On the 5th, Repar got three Sherpas from some other team or teams "to help us bring Miha Valic down to Camp I." During the next two days porter carried him to Chinese base camp, and on the 8th "we brought Valic to Kathmandu." Their trekking agency, Monterosa, said his body was sent back to Slovenia. Email from Tone Skarja - 17 Jan 2009 On the evening of Oct 2 at C3, Miha was not feeling fell; he had diarrhea, cough and could not sleep. On 3 Oct he was better. At 3 am 4 Chinese and 4 Sherpas left C3 for the top. Valic and Perhaj left C3 about 6 am. At 9 am, they met the Chinese group coming back from the top. Exactly at 12 o'clock, Miha reached the summit, waited a few minutes for Perhaj and told him that the top is very near. Perhaj reached this point, saw the tip of the Everest pyramid above the clouds, and at 12:30 both left the top of Cho Oyu. There were no other climbers there except the Chinese ahead of them. They did not use supplementary oxygen at all. Miha was looking well. At 3 pm they reached C3, took a tent and carried it and put it up again at C2. It was 5 pm. 4 Oct they slept late and left C2 about 1:30 pm. Perhaj started first alone, Miha a little later with other climbers. Perhaj descended the sec ond serac, but at the next (first) serac he saw Miha and heard how he was talking with the others. Time was 4 pm, when snow storm started. Perhaj continued his descent to C1. At 6:30 pm the weather was good, he left C1 and reached ABC about 10 pm. He was sure Miha was with the others at C1. After Tomaz Repar reported that Miha descended from C2 together with an Australian group [led by Stuart Remensnyder] - all of them moved slowly. Before the first (lower) serac (6800-6900m) Miha asked for drugs for pulmonary and cerebral edema and water. He became nervous and moved faster, saying "I must go down." In his descent, he collapsed, stopped, and he ended hanging on the fixed rope (40-50m long), unconscious. Other got him down, but first aid was unsuccessful, and they put him in a temporary grave. Repar climbed up to 7150m only.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Monterosa Treks
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460261
Year 2008
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) nw side

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Anton Perhaj M 1958 Slovenia Climber Ribnica, Slovenia Electrical engineer Details Other expeditions
Tomaz Repar M 1964 Slovenia Climber Skofljica, Slovenia Electronics engineer Details Other expeditions
Miha Valic M 1978 Slovenia Leader Ljubljana, Slovenia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Miha Lampreht M 1957 Slovenia Climber Ljubljana, Slovenia Attorney Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.