Hongku | 2023 NW Face (up), SW Ridge (down)

A Czech Republic expedition to Hongku in 2023 via NW Face (up), SW Ridge (down), led by Marek Holecek. Summit reached on 23rd May 2023. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 11112
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID HONK23101
Peak ID HONK
Year 2023
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 NW Face (up), SW Ridge (down)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Czech Republic
Leaders Marek Holecek
Sponsor Czech Sura Peak Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 3rd
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Lukla->Namche->Gokyo->Amphu Laptsa->BC
Basecamp Date 2023-05-12
Summit Date 2023-05-23
Summit Time 1100
Summit Days 11
Total Days 12
Termination Date 2023-05-24
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6764
Traverse True
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
Summit Members 2
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 True
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(12/052,5300m),Biv1(19/05,5500m),Biv2(20/05,6200m),Biv3(21/05,6400m),Biv4(22/05,6600m),Smt(23/05)
Route Notes Approach: Flight to Lukla, trekking via Namche Bazar, Gokyo, Amphu Lapcha Pass BC 12/05 5300m Biv1 19/05 5500m on the glacier underneath the West Face Biv2 20/05 6200m in a snow cave Biv3 21/05 6400m on blue ice at the start of difficult rock band Biv4 22/05 6600m in a snow cave on final headwall Smt 23/05 by Holecek and Bernat at 11 am. The two climbers started from last bivy at 9 am in the morning of 23/05. On the summit at 11 am. It was not too cold, not much wind, but very poor visibility, quite cloudy. Descent via SW Ridge. Tough snow conditions on descent. Sharp-edged ridge, no options for belays. Two times rappeled. Didn’t walk back to BC but to nearby teahouse at Seto Pokhari. Arrival at Seto Pokhari at 11 pm and spent the night there. On 24/05 to Khare; on 25/05 to Kote; on 26/05 to Lukla. Crux of climb: 150m of rock band at appr. 6500m. Very lose rock, treacherous terrain, took them a long time to negotiate this passage. Some parts vertical, some sections even overhanging. Lower part of face approximately 50-60° steep, higher part about 70-80° steep. Final headwall after rock passage 70-80°, sometimes climbing on blue ice. Both members with slight frostbite. No treatment in hospital, will heal in a short time. Overall classification: M6, 70° Alpine style ascent. Climbing route: West/Northwest Face Name of route: Simply beautiful Oxygen: Not taken, not used Records: Probably first ascent of NW Face. Report from Marek Holecek (Translated from Czech to English by DeepL): "They're good up there" and they like us... For those who do not have the time or the desire to read the whole article below, I present only an informative technical statement. Here it is. The ascent of the NW face of Sura Peak 6764m, was done alpine-style from May 19-23. The difficulty of the ascent is suggested to be M6, average slope gradient 70° (90° in places), ascent length 1500m and elevation gain 1300m. The first ascent was named Simply Beautiful, the climbers were Matej Bernát and Marek Holecek. And now... True Story The beginning of the story of Sura Peak started during an expedition in 2021. After all sorts of vicissitudes, she finally gave permission. Since then, the peppery Heaven's Trap route has been leading there, where one of my dreams came true after a hard struggle. It could also be said that at any given moment the eyes can only hold one beauty and one concentration. Not so, they are volatile and unfaithful. Already during the acclimatization itself, they were gazing hungrily at the wide surroundings, when the space for further acclimatization was slowly beginning to form. The image of a nameless pyramid rising steeply above the glacier has returned now and then as I've closed my eyelids for the past two years. In my mind's eye, I imagined where the line of passage to the summit might lead. There was nothing to be done. The idea went to light and I burdened it with the reality of the questions. It meant searching my archival photos, scouring the internet, magazines, sending out queries. Then chewing all the information and subjecting it to questions again. Who climbed there, when and where? Is it possible to complete an idea that has all been sketched out and realized long ago without a single actual step? And what is the name of the spike anyway? Here it is...,Sura peak. "Dick" one, nearly 7,000th bastard. All right, I'm in. It's no wonder, then, that the return to the sandy beach that flanks the glacial lake at over 5000 metres didn't take long. It is also the site of Base Camp, with a wall of mountains rising above it. A fabulous corner of the Himalayas, eerie and desolate in one. However, before my footsteps again reached the place they already knew, there were more points to tick off on the list. I had a clear idea of where I wanted to climb, but there was still a question mark in the air as to with whom. Phone calls went through the ether, and I addressed my climbing partners. Whatever the reasons were, poppy or otherwise, after two months of searching, the partner column was still empty. It was necessary to change the search circle. With the mature pieces missing from the bottom of the pond, it was necessary to wade into shallower waters to spawn. And lo and behold, on the very first phone call, when a few formal turns were made, a young fish "Matej" was flicking in the netting. Needless to say, the selection was not random according to an alphabetical list, but according to the performance of potential adepts. It has always been so. At some point, the working automatic gets stuck and you have to try a different set of gears. Over the course of nearly fifty trips, I've teamed up with many buddies. Each with a different swing, a different focus, but always rewarding, engaging and great. The beauty of youth is in the speed of decision, where energy and performance burst forth, with a minimum of bad experiences and without the weight of shackles to commitment... Okay Matej, we're leaving in May and we'll fine-tune the rest before then. Those are my last words before I hang up the phone. The days of Simply Beautiful Sure, I know I owe you those few pivotal days to complete the picture that led up to the climb up the NW face of Sura Peak. So here they are. I originally wanted to describe the whole course of events in a strictly technical way, devoid of emotion and romance. And really, I want to keep it as low-key as possible. However, to reduce mountain movement and mountaineering to a mere athletic-gymnastic movement from valley to summit would be purely indulgent, even barbaric, to this philosophy of life. Mountaineering is not a classically measurable sport and is not primarily about the summit, but about the experience. I don't remember the summit, but the strong, hard, also beautiful moments and the partners who helped me see the summits from the summits. But to the point. By the time we arrived at Base Camp, I had two weeks of shuffling around central Hymalaya in my lungs and legs. In other words, stronger internal safeguards against overload, where the body will flounder from lack of oxygenation. We reached the cool spot around the lake on the 13th of May, and I happily sent the porters to Khare immediately after putting down the luggage. Which is a village more than ten hours away in another valley, separated by a high saddle of five and a half thousand feet. We were left all alone in a beautiful place surrounded by mountains, waiting for the starting shot. The moment had come to take a good look at what awaited us. There was little snow and dark rock reliefs and deep blue ice peeked out from the surrounding walls. I stared at a starving herd of horses, every bone sticking out of their skin and ribs that could be played like a harp. This spring's monsoon will not bring the salvation of snow. Still, there was one difference from past years. A noticeable all-day chill. Whether or not this will be good for our climbers remains to be seen. Accepting what you can't control is the key. Then turn it into a miracle. That's down to human imagination, will, skill, aided by the stars overhead. You don't need more. Now there was nothing to do but wait for the auspicious moment, which Alena, the "dew", told me with the daily feed via satellite. The day of arrival did not come until Friday, May 19. Matej and I prepared a backpack of climbing material and everything we needed for five days, which would be enough to go up and back to return safely. We were excited and had the image of the SZ wall fixed in our minds. Day One Our camp was directly below the wall on the glacier at 5500 meters. A comfortable place to sleep, except for the view above us. There was an icy slope from the base that could be 50° at the bottom. With more metres it became more gentle, and at the top it became a perpendicular threshold, where the jagged glacial serac was mocking. Above it rose a wall of rock, darkly overhanging and impenetrable to the eye. Good night and sleep well. No fleas, no black nightmares, no imagining what the morning holds... Day Two The climbing of the first section was as expected. There was no uncertainty between us in the beginning, only the rope made a silent connection between our destinies. We were gaining altitude rapidly with each passing hour. Around ten o'clock the sun's rays finally leaned on us. They weren't aggressive, but they were enough to make the morning frostiness slowly leave us. A little after noon, we crawled under the colliest part of the ice slide that crossed the serac threshold. The slope reached 80°, rising only occasionally into perpendicular blue ice. The effort grew, the progress slowed, and the afternoon sun quickly wandered toward the west. The fatigue of constantly looking up and whacking ice axes was evident in the back of the neck and shoulders. The lungs are keeping up for now, but would surely vote for a break too. On one oblique traverse, through a system of couloirs that followed the next direction of ascent, I happened to come across a cave. This was formed some time ago when the ice shell moved downward in one section, introducing a fault with a meter-long detachment. Wow..., for us it was a place for a bivouac, just above 6000 meters, sent by the sky itself. Day Three If the weather hadn't bothered us too much with wind and snow until then, today, without an invitation, a change came. In the morning the sun was smiling at us and after a moment of joy the clouds took over. From the bivouac we climbed another 150m of ice organ to where a continuous rock barrier grew out of it. There the predictable trouble occurred. The very first meters showed that the rock was like gingerbread. And it was covered with unstable snow. The dance on crampons began, and the swinging of the ice axes, which hardly found support at the end of their tips. I was reminded of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse as he swung his legs and arms over the precipice, and for a moment it looked like he would never fall. I only climbed two lengths in this dunghill, seventy feet after a great strain. All the belaying had more of a psychological effect than it could be relied upon. When I was catching Matej, he fell out twice with something. Fortunately, the place I had set up on the shield held, and so our bodies did not flow towards the valley. I knew we wouldn't move another meter. The weather also made it clear that we should quickly find a place to spend the night. Snowfalls began to come down from the summit and the wind bit through our clothes to the bone. However, there was no platform in sight where at least one butt could sit. Everything was hostilely sloping. There was nothing to do but start digging into the icy slope, which had a 70° slope. Even there, after twenty minutes of banging like a deaf man on a door, there was no victory. Beneath a few centimetres of ice, a rock with the same slope lay. We're screwed and so is the whole circus. What to do next was clear. In the belay we were hanging on, it was necessary to attach the tent canopy. Later, it evokes a large bag of rubbish hanging from a nail. We had to somehow squeeze into it with our sleeping bags and all the junk so that nothing would fall off. There is nothing to lean on in the tent, so our remains slide on the slippery ground. We're two marionettes trapped by a flipper in the middle of an inhospitable wall. A night of passion unlike any other has taken more than enough of our dwindling strength. Day Four The key day of the whole climb. We didn't know if we would be able to climb the following rock meters, but it was clear that if we didn't, we were in big trouble. Getting back through the places we had been climbing for two days was hard to imagine. On the other hand, the eighty-meter rock section overhead looked like one big overhang. An inner voice whispered to me every time I didn't know and my fears only grew: "Give a concentrated valid attempt and see". It took long hours before two lengths of quarrying were under my feet. The gaping chasm down at the foot of the glacier was already a good mile long. The fear disappeared. There was no more room for it. There was only a feeling of muscle fatigue, a buzzing alarm in my head that the psyche was also grinding its last. The body began to shiver from hypothermia and snow began to fall from the sky. The cursed rock is behind us and the path to the summit is open. At this point Matej stepped in and with a precise routine started the next two ice lengths. At the end of the second one he found a slope crack, which I had been looking for since the start. I thought that there might be a place for a bivouac. It was, too, in a seventy degree slope another kiss from this world. We set up the tent, boil water for our stiff and dried guts. We lie down on the couch, which, compared to the previous evening, seems to be even with the sky. Day Five Up today for cherry and whipped cream. Easy said, harder done. Our toes send an accusation to the nervous system every time we stumble into the unforgiving frozen mass, resembling blue glass, "ouch... it hurts"! The hands, too, get cramps from a thousand blows with the axe. My shoulders can no longer feel and the backpack straps are cut into my armpits to the point of hambo. Less than two hours have passed since leaving the bivouac and the final hundred and forty metres of altitude are behind us. There is nowhere to climb further. No applause or cheers. Our faces are crowded out by smiles, which rather reflect the joy of not having to take a step higher. We hug each other, pat each other on the back. We quickly take out our cameras, our cameras. Click..., tape recording and the whole ceremony of celebration is over. I feel relaxed, but the day is far from over. One last look at the pointy world around us. I stare at the frozen beauty and try to etch it indelibly into my memory again. But the image never lasts long before it begins to fade away completely. The only thing that remains trapped in the colourful memories is the hardship, the toil and the partner with whom you endured the martyrdom. The view slides to the nearest mountain giants. Barunce, which is connected by a ridge just within reach, and Chamlang on the other side. Suddenly, I feel a strong impulse completely engulf my consciousness and an unstoppable wave rushes out. You're nostalgic, you old fool. At the same time, I wipe away the tears that are pressing into my eyes. Surely you managed to climb a great first ascent of either hill years ago, and there's Kyashar. Further to the east, Talung and through a few more valleys, Kyazo Ri. Pull yourself together and don't beat yourself up as this is not the time to dissect memories. Not to mention that the most poignant thing is the knowledge that my train is already approaching its final stop, where it will be taken off the tracks in the coming years. Okay thanks Himalaya,...one last boo and off you go up the arse. Descending down the ridge that resembled the sharp back of a lochneska took its toll on Mathew. I was glad I did, as you can see the footprints in the snow ahead that announce "man has passed here and here he comes". Such a placebo effect, or connection to life. It doesn't matter that Matej and I are tied together on a rope twenty meters apart. We move in a common rhythm, leaving the mutual belay in the hands of the Almighty. A kilometre-long parachute on either side, and every step means snapping ice axes and kicking crampons. Either one was a game of chance. Hands and feet moved a little each time before finding stability in the loose snow. Hours passed and the valley floor only reluctantly approached. Just before dark, we cleared the snow bank. Our feet, resembling a rag doll, clumsily tread in a sea of stone. Every now and then a pile of rocks is released when we step on it, and it tumbles with a clatter somewhere into the coming darkness. The story of Sura Peak ends. Before eleven at night, we arrive at the "teehouse" of Seto Pokhari. A kind of stone enclosure with a cage instead of a roof, where porters and our friend Pavel are waiting for us. For our tortured bodies, a scream and the center of civilization. In summary, the climb we called "Simply Beautiful" was crystalline alpinism. A beautiful untouched wall. No pampered Base Camp and bouncing staff around. Just a few meals in the forota while we waited to start the descent. One assault tent, a backpack with climbing gear, a rope as an umbilical cord, our plan and determination. Nothing unnecessary. Then it was a battle for every step on the NW face to the top and a run back down to life. That's the end. The last words will belong to Matej, whom I thank. Also thanks to the one or ones on the air who held a protective hand over us. And thanks to you and your partners for your support and goodwill. Maara
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Green Horizon
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2464496
Year 2023
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) nw face (up), sw ridge (down)

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Marek Holecek M 1974 Czech Republic Leader Prague, Czech Republic Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Matej Bernat M 1995 Czech Republic Climber Bernov, Czech Republic Dentist Details Other expeditions

References

8 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
HONK23101 - - https://explorersweb.com/holecek-and-bernat-start-up-sura-peak/ - - -
HONK23101 - - https://explorersweb.com/first-night-on-sura-peak-for-holecek-bernat/ - - -
HONK23101 - - https://explorersweb.com/sura-peak-hell-on-earth/ - - -
HONK23101 - - https://explorersweb.com/holecek-bernat-sura-peak-summit/ - - -
HONK23101 - - https://explorersweb.com/sura-peak-report-simply-beautiful/ - - -
HONK23101 AJ Holecek, Marek The Gods are Kind on Sura Peak - 127:3-13 (2023) -
HONK23101 AAJ Holecek, Marek Hongku, West Face - 98:321-322 (2024) -
HONK23101 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216821 - - -