Dhaulagiri I | 2019 W Face

A Slovakia expedition to Dhaulagiri I in 2019 via W Face, led by Peter Hamor. Summit reached on 19th May 2019. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10167
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID DHA119101
Peak ID DHA1
Year 2019
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Slovakia
Leaders Peter Hamor
Sponsor Slovakian-Romanian Dhaulagiri 1 Expedition 2019
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Romania
Approach Pokhara->Beni->Darbang->Japanese BC
Basecamp Date 2019-04-17
Summit Date 2019-05-19
Summit Time -
Summit Days 32
Total Days 34
Termination Date 2019-05-21
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5600m due to high winds and very long, difficult route
High Point (m) 5600
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 1000
Total Members 3
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
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(17/04,4000m),C1(09/05,5000m),C2(19/05,5600m),xxx
Route Notes BC 17/04 4000m (Japanese BC) C1 09/05 5000m (on top of the ridge) C2 19/05 5600m HPt 19/05 5600m by Colibasanu, Hamor and Gane. Team stayed for two days at BC after arrival. Then they went to Dhaulagiri normal BC for one night and French Pass for one night and returned to BC. They started to fix the route from BC to C1 on the North Face. It took them six (non-consecutive) days to fix the route from 4,600m to C1 on the top of the ridge. The approach from BC to the bottom of the face was over moraine, a snowfield. The conditions on the face were very difficult – mixed rock and ice, but with very brittle ice so Colibasanu cleared the rock from the ice with a shovel to make it easier. They fixed about 600m of rope up to the ridge. Once they had established their C1 on the top of the ridge on 09/05, they fixed to about 100m below C2 and returned to C1 to stay the night on 10/05. On 11/05, they finished fixing to C2 and put up the tent, but did not stay the night as it was too windy. The route on the ridge was not too difficult with rock slabs, ice and snow ridge. They descended to BC. They remained in BC for one week and waited for the wind to abate. On 17/05, they started their summit push even though the weather forecast was still predicting wind. When they woke up at C2 at 20/05 it first seemed calm, however, the tent was protected and they did not feel the wind. Higher up they saw the spindrifts and decided to abandon the expedition. They packed up their stuff and descended to BC the same day. According to Horia, the problem of this route was the technical challenge with partially overhanging rock and ice. It was slow going and he thinks that it would probably help to be acclimatised before getting to the ridge. They often covered a long distance, but only gained 30 or 40 metres in altitude, which made the climb extremely cumbersome. Climb abandoned on 20/05 due to being too windy and left BC on 21/05. Fixed rope: 1000m Oxygen: Not taken, not used Facebook Post: Horia Colibasanu, 23 May 2019 (GOOGLE translation from Romanian) I go down carefully, with the corners bobbing on the crumbly shales, plunging me from time to time into the frozen frost. Although here would go without a fixed rope, we set it to move faster. A fraction of a second and the rope above me clings to a stone like the palm, which rolls toward the rope beneath me. Peter went into the paddle for 2 minutes and I don't know if he got out, and the stone picked up speed. I yell "Rock!" With all the power left in the breath and I just hope to find Peter untouched and with the design of the helmet sponsors unaffected. As I enter the ridge, I notice that Marius is coming from above. I have no desire for stones so I jump back, and during the crossing I put my nails behind my neck and take care of the rocky corners. Crossing is easy, but with 20kg on the back and dozens of sharp corners underneath, a slip is not an option. Even in the fixed rope that keeps us from the 1000m below. Peter is ok, Marius comes too, but one of my carbon telescopic ski sticks falls on my backpack. It stops before a threshold, where a 10m jump follows. I don't want to leave it, it is expensive and I find it only in the States, so I get rid of the rope and start to descend, with both poles, the distance of 6m up to him. The corners grind on a plate hidden under the snow and I get stuck in the nuts. I still have 3m, but the hole below me looks like hell... It's been a while since I had never made such an expedition. In the sense of long, hard and beyond hard. Coincidentally or not, the team is amazing. Peter and Marius seem to be taken from the job description. They climb like devils, chariots and finally I share a cigarette. And in the bad weather, there are days in a row under the basic conditions of the Spartan camp as if they were on holiday in Bali, enjoying a coffee, a pipe or a Romanian snack from Marius as if we were 5 stars, not in a tent tied with ropes so that the hurricane predicted the next day will not take us. Opening a new route is not easy in Romania either. In the Himalayas even more so. And by far the biggest impediment is the unknown, estimating what awaits you the next day. Despite the light way we try to take things, we are not here on leave. We did not come to have fun, we agreed to come and suffer. And I knew it would be hard. But does the heavy have enough degrees of comparison? Because it is hard to describe in adjectives how things get harder, harder and harder and you start to wonder not if the hard time is longer, but how long it will increase in intensity and whether it will take over. In the Himalayas, a normal route runs about 600-1000m a day for about 3000-4000m from the base camp to the summit. In other words, once acclimatized it reaches the peak in 3-4 days, plus a day-two for descent. Here, for the 4000m, we also had good days when we advanced 200-300m. But there were 3 consecutive days, separated by a day's break, in which we worked 10-11 hours, we climbed almost 1000m to advance on the new route 20-30m. Then back down, not knowing when this work is going to end, rather than alpine. In the section of the wall and the oven I saw about what material the strings, the pitons, the friends, Marius and Peter are made. Much louder than I would have thought. I haven't beaten pythons for 10 years. I'm not happy to tell Peter that they are not well placed, consequently, with the thin dentist brand, they put two hands on the hammer tail. I'm Monica Seles, just don't scream. On overhanging portions, the fixed rope moves away from the horn and when climbing we need to pedal, in order to climb the rope with 2 blockers. No, not pedal bikers, but speleologists, anyway as mountaineering as a bunch of roses on the backpack. At a soft snow overhang, in which there are no nests, I come prepared with a shovel and after an hour, I advance 5m, removing the overhang and making steps from aluminum corners. I'm flea and broken. I freeze for an hour, with the fluff on me, along with Peter, while Marius skillfully passes the one-meter dash. Needless to say, after 4m he got off and took the climbing shoes, leaving his ankle boots with hangers on a python, freezing his legs terribly until the end of the rope length. But at the end of the wall we do not expect a smooth ridge to the top, but a new technical section, lighter than the wall, but which requires fixed ropes. Another week's work. After a month and a half of efforts, the most difficult part of the new route is opened. We are only at 5600m, we have not been able to acclimate ourselves above, but from here it is easier. You can walk on your feet, and even if it's not a walk in the park, you may go ahead and especially descend without fixed ropes. We only need a window of good weather, with no wind above 30km / h in the peak area, for at least 4 days. I went slowly, being charged and not acclimatized. This year, the window didn't come. It seems that, as in 2014, a disruption of the weather in the northern hemisphere leads to endless rains in Romania, floods in Slovakia and the lack of windows for oxygen-free ascents in the Himalayas. We are in the tent at 5600m. Marius is left with his head in the hood of his sleeping bag, almost completely submerged. To the right, Peter began to rush. It's 5 o'clock, it lights up. The lucky guy in the middle starts putting ice in the aluminum pot and brews his coffee. With the blessings of the one who invented 3 + 1, we begin to indulge. Peter jokes, as every morning, about condensation. Marius looks calmly as if he were seeing the sea for the first time. I pull my head out of the tent and at 300m above us the windflags run along the whole ridge. 40-50 km/h wind. Peter looked questioningly. I'm just nodding my head. I knew since we left that we would not have a good forecast, but we decided to try. Let's get to camp 2 and not come back unless we are in danger, because the wind does not let us. And possibly recover the equipment of several thousand euros from a hat. And the wind doesn't let us. We have a long descent, heavy and risky in front, we can not detach yet. Not after a year of work, hopes and dreams. Not after 2 months of intense efforts, between the rocks and the ice. Slowly, there is an idea: We do not take everything! Let's leave what we can for next year. After all, the harder part is solved, we know the route to a great extent. All we need is a decision for the year and a good weather window. I can hardly wait for the transition period to begin to train again. Especially since I have both telescopic sticks. And a valuable team: two forwarding colleagues I can count on, partners and sponsors who understand the Himalayan challenge because they are also used to such challenges in performance work. I thank all those who were with me, with a thought of encouragement!
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Cho Oyu Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2464827
Year 2019
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Peter Hamor M 1964 Slovakia Leader Poprad, Slovakia Alpine instructor Details Other expeditions
Horia Dan Colibasanu M 1977 Romania Climber Timisoara, Romania Dentist Details Other expeditions
Marius Gane M 1968 Romania Climber Bucharest, Romania Mechanical engineer Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.