Lhotse | 2011 W Face

A Spain expedition to Lhotse in 2011 via W Face, led by Roberto Rodrigo. Summit reached on 21st May 2011. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 7115
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT11106
Peak ID LHOT
Year 2011
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Spain
Leaders Roberto Rodrigo
Sponsor Spaniards on Lhotse
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 Lukla->Namche->Gokyo->Kongma La->Gorakshep
Basecamp Date 2011-04-26
Summit Date 2011-05-21
Summit Time 1600
Summit Days 25
Total Days 29
Termination Date 2011-05-25
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8516
Traverse False
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 True
O2 None False
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical True
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(26/04,5350m),C1(03/05,6100m),C2(04/05,6400m),C3(06/05,7100m),C4(19/05,8300m),Smt(21/05)
Route Notes Rodrigo Espiga and Garcia Arribas started their summit push at 2:20 am and Salazar Gavia at 2:30 am on 21 May from C4. Salazar Gavia turned around from 8300m it was already 2 pm. Salazar Gavia thought it was late for him to continue for summit as he was tired and getting very cold. He got to C4 around 4 pm. The Spanish couple continued their climb. Arribas got to the top at 4 pm and Espiga at 4:30 pm. Arribas stayed on summit for 45 minutes and Espiga for 15 minutes. While descending Espiga got snowblinded at 8300m. Salazar Gavia said that Espiga was brought down to C2 on 22 May with the help of Willi Benegas and his three Sherpas. Benegas was around C4 and Russell Brice informed him about the Spanish couple in trouble. Rodrigo Espiga and Garcia Arribas had treatment at C2 of the Brice expedition attended by his expedition doctor (Monica Piris) and Billi Bierling. Rodrigo Espiga was evacuated by helicopter on 23 May from C2 and then to Kathmandu on 24. Official Statement 25 May 2011 The expedition teams of 'Endesa-Desafio Edurne Pasaban 14+1', IMG, Himex, Patagonian Brothers and all of the people who took part in the above mentioned operation, would like to publicly make the following points with respect to the rescue of the Spanish alpinists Manuel "Lolo" Gonzalez, Roberto Rodrigo and Isabel Garcia which took place on the 22nd of May on Lhotse. On the 21st of May, a group of Spanish alpinists were descending from the summit of Lhotse. Their progress was being followed by Himex doctor Monica Piris, members of Edurne Pasaban's team and Carlos Martinez Garcia and Darío Rodriguez (the doctor and the journalist of the Spanish Lhotse team). There was concern that the team were taking too long to return to Camp 4 and radio contact with the team was maintained throughout the night by Monica. At 2 am it was obvious that 3 climbers had not returned to camp to Camp 4 and at 05:27 on the 22nd of May, Russell Brice contacted his Sirdar (Phurba Tashi) at Camp 2 asking him to look at the couloir to see if any people were visible on the route. Between 05:30 and 05:40 Russell Brice contacted teams at base camp and Camp 2 to try and ascertain a) who needed to be rescued and b) the exact location of all of the climbers who had been on the route the previous day. At 08:00, the emergency situation on Lhotse was confirmed when it became known that an alpinist (Manuel Gonzalez) had disappeared, and several others were in Camp 4 (7800m) in poor physical condition, with some of them in very grave danger. On being alerted to the situation, Edurne Pasaban, leader of the expedition 'Endesa-Desafio Edurne Pasaban 14+1' also asked for assistance from the leaders of Himex (Russell Brice), IMG (Ang Jangbu), and Patagonian Brothers (Willy Benegas) to initiate a rescue operation obtaining a positive response from all of them. From that time, the rescue operation was coordinated from the Patagonian Brothers base camp and run by Edurne Pasaban and Willy Benegas with the collaboration and advice of the doctors from the above mentioned teams. During the morning of the 22nd May, Damian Benegas, lead guide of Patagonian Brothers was descending from the summit of Mount Everest and was between Camp 4 and 3 with another guide, four clients and seven Sherpas, when he was informed of the emergency situation on Lhotse. On looking towards Lhotse Camp 4 he sighted the body of Manuel Gonzalez, approximately 100m above the camp on a rock buttress known as the The Turtle. He immediately left his Sherpas in charge of his clients and, in the company of his other guide, Matias (Matoco) Erroz headed towards Lhotse Camp 4 to offer assistance. When Damian and Matoco arrived at Camp 4, all the other alpinists who had summited or tried to summit Lhotse on the previous day had abandoned their tents and were heading down towards the safety of lower camps. The only people remaining at Camp 4 were Roberto Rodrigo and Isabel Garcia whose severely depleted physical condition made their descent without assistance impossible. The Iranian alpinist, Mahdi Amidi, was also at Camp 4 where he had stayed to try and help them. Immediately, the two guides from Patagonian Brothers proceeded to administer emergency medical treatment to the two alpinist despite the fact that one of them Isabel Garcia actively refused said treatment which included the use of bottled oxygen already stored at Camp 4 and belonging to Himex. In the meantime, a Sherpa of Patagonian Brothers expeditions, Phurba Gaelgin, arrived at Camp 4 to help with the rescue. After 2 hours of emergency medical treatment, the two casualties were stable enough to initiate descent with the help of Phurba Gaelgin and Mahdi Amidi. Damian Benegas and Matoco then headed towards the location of Manuel Gonzalez and found him to be alive. He had survived a night out at 7900m. When they arrived he was conscious but unable to move from the waist down. Due to his precarious position far from the fixed rope and in grave danger of a fatal fall, it took more than 2 hours of complex and dangerous rescue techniques to get Manuel Gonzalez to Camp 4. Meanwhile, Phurba Tashi and Ngima Chering, 2 Himex Sherpas, had begun their ascent from Camp 2 to the scene of the accident with a stretcher. They arrived at Camp 4 late in the afternoon and immediately initiated descent with the casualty back down towards Camp 2 (6400m). Throughout the afternoon and well into the night, the alpinists who were descending on their own from Lhotse Camp 4 arrived at Camp 2 where there was a large number of people and infrastructure from Endesa, Himex, IMG and Patagonian Brothers at their disposal in order to assist them to camp and to treat the various medical conditions from which they were suffering: mainly frostbite, edemas and severe dehydration. Himex converted their Camp 2 into field hospital where staff from PBE (Erin Lalley and Mara Larson) and Himex (David McKinley and Brian Warren) and expedition members Billi Bierling and Jorge Salazar worked throughout the night administering first aid to all of the descending climbers. At the rescue headquarters in PBE base camp all those involved also worked throughout the night offering medical and logistical advice and support to those at Camp 2. Thanks to the rescue carried out by Damian Benegas, Matoco, Phurba Tashi and Ngima Chering, and with the help of least another 20 people in the final few hundred metres, Manuel Gonzalez arrived at Camp 2 at half past midnight. The following day Manuel Gonzalez and Roberto Rodrigo Espiga were evacuated by helicopter from Camp 2. The remainder of the alpinists arrived at base camp throughout day although given their poor physical condition almost all of them also required assistance and help from other expeditions to make it to their own camps. Almost all of them were evacuated from base camp by helicopter over subsequent days. This rescue operation mobilised more than 50 people, many of whom directly risked their own lives in addition to the huge amount of human effort and logistical problems that this situation has generated for all the expeditions and groups involved. In addition, these alpinists have left almost all of their equipment and tents at camps three and four either obliging others to bring it down or leaving it to become rubbish on the mountainside. Lastly, we would like to condemn all erroneous information about this rescue that was made public by people who were NOT present, before the families of those implicated had been informed personally. Declarations from the leaders of the expeditions involved: Russell Brice (Himex): "I am deeply disappointed that a group of alpinists with so much experience and knowledge of 8000m peaks should find themselves involved in situations like this on Lhotse where there had been a deep lack of professional conduct and alpine etiquette." Willy Benegas (Patagonian Brothers): "As climbers, we take risks, but each indivisual has to take responsibility for himself and not put others at risk. In this case, the decisions taken by this group, of so-called professionals, put hundreds of people in grave danger of losing their lives. The ultimate responsibility of every mountaineer is not to put others at risk." Edurne Pasaban (Endesa-Desafío Edurne Pasaban 14+1): "A year later history repeats itself, with the exception of the fact that on this occasion the prompt action of the often-time criticised commercial expeditions has avoided another tragedy. Let's hope that everyone will learn from these events such that it does not happen again."
Accidents Rodrigo Espiga got severe frostbite in all his fingers, toes and face and he was snowblind; Garcia Arribas also got frostbite in her six fingers
Achievement -
Agency Prestige Adventure
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458479
Year 2011
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Maria Isabel Garcia Arribas F 1967 Spain Climber Burgos, Spain Elementary school teacher Details Other expeditions
Roberto Rodrigo Espiga M 1969 Spain Leader Barakaldo, Vizcaya, Spain Auto parts factory worker Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.