Himlung Himal | 2019 NW Ridge

A Spain expedition to Himlung Himal in 2019 via NW Ridge, led by Fernando Sanchez Grassa. Summit reached on 1st November 2019. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10434
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID HIML19313
Peak ID HIML
Year 2019
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Spain
Leaders Fernando Sanchez Grassa
Sponsor Spanish Himlung Himal Expedition 2019
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 Besisahar->Dharapani->Koto->Meta->Phu->BC
Basecamp Date 2019-10-07
Summit Date 2019-11-01
Summit Time -
Summit Days 25
Total Days 27
Termination Date 2019-11-03
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 7126
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 3
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(4850m),C1(5600m),C2(6000m),Smt(01/11)
Route Notes From The Himalayan Times, 2 Nov 2019 Rajan Pokhrel According to the base camp officials, Fernando Sanchez Grassa breathed his last above Camp III on Himlung when he along with two other climbers was returning from the summit point last night. Fernando (44), one of the renowned mountain guides, was a part of an eight-member expedition, the officials said, adding that Fernando and twin brothers – Juan Carlos Del Cerro Millan and Jesus Del Cero Millan – reached the summit point of the 7126-metre mountain on Friday afternoon. Other five members of the expedition had abandoned their bid, the officials added. Fernando complained of snow blindness while descending from the summit point, according to officials. “Three climbers scaled the mountain in an alpine style.” Efforts were underway to recover his body from Camp III, they added. The twin brothers have already descended to the base camp. Notes from Di Gilbert - 16 Jan 2020 About Jesus, Carlos and Fernando: I first saw them on 31 October as I was leaving Camp 2 for Camp 1 after my summit bid. They were on the way up the mountain for their summit bid. They would arrived in Camp 2 late in the afternoon, maybe a couple of hours before the sun set. I hadn’t met them before. As we passed we had polite conversation - they asked if we had summited, I replied yes. They congratulated us and I wished them best for their summit bid. I didn’t think anything about it but only realised afterwards that this was the Spanish team. We returned to Base Camp 1st November. The first I knew something happened was when somebody said that someone had died on the mountain. Normal situation occurred - lots of speculation, gossip, etc. - and I kept out of it. I think Jesus returned back to base camp 2 November and I remember going up to him (there were loads of people around him) and just saying that if he needed me to help in any way, just let me know. I pointed out my camp and then left the group of people. Most teams had already departed the mountain or were in the throws of packing up. It was only on the morning of the 3 November when I discovered that 2 of my Sherpa’s were planning to back up the mountain to retrieve equipment for the Spanish team that I became involved. I sat down with Jesus and Maria (my Romanian team member who spoke far better Spanish than me - Jesus spoke absolutely no English or Nepali). We probably spent about an hour together trying to piece to gather what happened. I was led to believe that there were 2 brothers, Jesus and Carlos, and their Guide Fernando. They had previously been on Himlung roughly 15 years ago and decided to return. They were all close friends who had spent many expeditions/climbing together. They had no Sherpa support and were just using base camp services. They arrived at Camp 2 all together. The following morning, 1 November, it was very very cold and they did not leave until the late morning, after the sun had warmed up the tent. For info: we left at 02:30 and summited 11:00/11:30 from Camp 2. It was brutally cold. They travelled together to where Camp 3 was (the bottom of the steeper fixed lines), but this is where Jesus turned around because it was too cold. Carlos and Fernando continued to the summit. Fernando arrived at the summit first and apparently waited their for one hour before Carlos. They were under head torch at this stage. Goggles were on. They left together, but Fernando started to struggle and it sounds that Carlos had to basically drag him down the mountain. Apparently Carlos was complaining about his eyes (or that is what I got the impression it was). Fernando kept saying to leave him and for Carlos to get off the mountain. Approx 100m up from the bottom of the steeper fixed lines, Carlo attached Fernando to the mountain about 50m off the fixed ropes with snow stakes. Fernando had told Carlos that when he died he wanted to be left on the mountain. I don’t know if Fernando had actually passed away before Carlos left him. Carlos returned to Camp 2 for the night. Jesus returned to base camp to raise the alarm. After speaking to Jesus and getting as much info as possible, 2 of my Sherpa’s returned to Camp 2 to help Carlos down and remove equipment. Carlos walked unassisted into base camp. I met with Carlos at base camp - he spoke no English. I checked his feet and hands (much speculation about frostbite) and carried out some basic first aid. He was obviously very distraught. People made lots of comments how they never had good equipment. They were dressed in older style mountain clothing, but nothing worse than Sherpas. They did not have down suits - but most people didn’t. I don’t think I saw any big down jackets when I was helping them sort our their bags for the helicopter. The helicopter arrived later during the day (3rd) where they were flown to KTM.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Imagine Nepal pmt
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2461168
Year 2019
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) nw ridge

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Fernando Sanchez Grassa M 1975 Spain Leader Zaragoza, Spain - Details Other expeditions
Juan Carlos Del Cerro Millan M 1968 Spain Climber Zaragoza, Spain - Details Other expeditions
Jesus Del Cerro Millan M 1968 Spain Climber Zaragoza, Spain - Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
HIML19313 - - https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/spanish-alpinist-dies-while-descending-himlung-himal/ - - -
HIML19313 - - https://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/20191103/regalo-gemelos-millan-aragones-fernando-descenso-himalaya/441706049_0.html - - -