Makalu | 2022 Makalu La-NW Ridge

A UK expedition to Makalu in 2022 via Makalu La-NW Ridge, led by Adrian Ballinger. Summit reached on 9th May 2022. 13 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10856
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MAKA22102
Peak ID MAKA
Year 2022
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 Makalu La-NW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Adrian Ballinger
Sponsor Alpenglow Makalu Expedition 2022
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 Ecuador, Switzerland, USA
Approach By heli to Hillary BC (ABC)
Basecamp Date 2022-04-18
Summit Date 2022-05-09
Summit Time 0900
Summit Days 21
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8485
Traverse False
Ski True
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 7
Summit Members 6
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 7
Summit Hired 5
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites ABC(18/04,5700m),C1(21/04,6300m),C2(24/04,6600m),C3(08/05,7450m),Smt(09,12,24/05)
Route Notes Report from Adrian Ballinger: Team left C3 at 2 am. Calm in night, windy after 5 am. Cloud/whiteout after 5 am. Passed all climbers by 7900m and my two Sherpsa and I broke trail the rest of way. Fixed rope ended before top of French Couloir. We fixed 300m rope to finish couloir and the entire summit ridge to top. Conditions on summit ridge were challenging. First team on top for season! And the I made first ski descent. Due to technical nature of summit ridge and other climbers coming up, I downclimbed from true Summit approx 15m (passing climbers coming up). Then put on my skis to descend. I took skis off one more time to make a 60m rappel on rock in the middle of French Couloir. Other than that I kept skis on for entire descent to crampon point at 5800m. I occasionally used fixed line as a hand line where route was pure ice or rock. Reached ABC at 6:30 pm. Ballinger left BC on 14/05. Ballinger and Dorje Sonam fixed 300m to summit. Mena and Palden Namgye fixed 1000 in French Coulior. Oxygen used from 7500m to summit. Report from Topo Mena: Approach: Jeep to Num, trekked to BC. BC 14/04 4800m ABC 18/04 5700m C1 21/04 6300m C2 22/04 6600m C3 05/05 7500m C4 12/05 7800m Smt 24/05 by Perez, Mena at 8:45 am without bottled oxygen Perez and Mena left C4 at 8 pm on 23/05. They reached 7900m at around 11 pm but it was very windy. They decided to turn back due to the strong gales, but after descending for about 100m the wind abated and they continued their summit push. They had to break trail a bit, but conditions were good overall. They spent about 20 minutes on the summit and descended to C4, where they rested for an hour and continued to C2 where they arrived at 6 pm. On 25/05 they descended to BC. Mena had already summited on 12/05 with Alpenglow [with Christine Ochs]. On that summit push Perez reached 8250m. She got too cold and descended to ABC while the others in the Alpenglow team continued to the summit. She stayed at BC until she left for the next summit push on 22/05. Mena and Perez descended directly to C2 on 22/05 and C4 on 23/05. After his 12/05 summit success, Mena flew to Kathmandu on 14/05 and returned to ABC to climb Makalu again with Perez and without supplemental oxygen. Left BC on 26/05 by helicopter. Oxygen: Not taken, not used. Report from Karl Egloff (SVM): BC 12/05 4800m (by helicopter) ABC 18/04 5700m C1 20/04 6300m Smt 09/05 by Egloff and Miranda at 14:33. ABC to Summit 17hr, 18min to ABC 25hr 48min round-trip, no oxigen, no Sherpas. From C3 on lots of wind, from C4 foggy, from French Coulour perfect weather. Previous summit attempt on 05/05. Left BC on 14/05.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalaya Vision
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2464206
Year 2022
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) makalu la-nw ridge

Members

13 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Adrian John Ballinger M 1976 UK Leader Olympic Valley, California Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Esteban Patricio (Topo) Mena Yanez M 1989 Ecuador Leader Quito, Ecuador Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Karl Heinz Egloff M 1981 Switzerland Climber Quito, Ecuador Professional athlete Details Other expeditions
Griffin Beck Mims M 1997 USA Cameraman Lake Tahoe, California - Details Other expeditions
Luis Nicolas Miranda Rodriquez M 1977 Ecuador Climber Quito, Ecuador Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Christina Elizabeth Ochs F 1978 USA Climber Chicago, Illinois Financial consultant Details Other expeditions
Carla Patricia Perez Ruales F 1982 Ecuador Climber Quito, Ecuador Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Dorje Sonam Gyalzen Sherpa M 1981 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Nima Tenzing (Ngima Tenjing) Sherpa M 1991 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Palden Namgye/Namgyal Sherpa M 1972 Nepal Rope-Fixing Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Sona Sherpa M 1996 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pemba Gelje Sherpa M 1990 Nepal H-A Worker Kharikhola, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Phurita Sherpa M 1982 Nepal H-A Worker Thami, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MAKA22102 - - https://explorersweb.com/adrian-ballinger-skies-makalu/ - - -
MAKA22102 - - https://explorersweb.com/carla-perez-summits-makalu-without-o2/ - - -
MAKA22102 - - https://explorersweb.com/makalu-fkt-ecuadorians-climb-in-17h-18m/ - - -
MAKA22102 AAJ MacDonald, Dougald Makalu, First Ski Descent - 97:342 (2023) -
MAKA22102 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216379 - - -