Mondinelli and Merelli on Shisha Pangma's Central Peak

At 13.00 on 6 October the Italians Silvio Mondinelli and Mario Merelli reached the Central Peak of Shisha Pangma

October 2003

At 13.00 on 6 October the Italians Silvio Mondinelli and Mario Merelli reached the Central Peak of Shisha Pangma, or Gosaithan as it is called locally.

The two mountaineers left ABC on Sunday morning and reached Camp 2 from where, at 1.00am, they headed off for the summit. Due to the intense cold they rested briefly at 7300m in a tent belonging to the Japanese expedition, and then they departed once more at dawn with the Australian Andrew, whom they had met on a previous Kanchenjunga expedition. The ascent proved extremely dangerous due to the enormous windslabs and, as a result, the three decided to withdraw from their main summit attempt.

This is Mondinelli's second ascent of Shisha Pangma's Central Peak; the first dates back to 1996. The expedition had hoped to reach the main summit but, as Mondinelli put it "we realised that it was impossible to continue up to the main summit. The final section along the crest is delicate and demanding in normal conditions, and now, after the recent heavy snowfalls, it would be far too risky. The desire to "conquest" the summit should never gain the upper hand. You need to be capable of turning back, however important your objective may be, when the risks are excessively high. Heavy hearted we decided to return to CII to spend the night there. What remains is the satisfaction, or perhaps I should say, consolation, of being the first to reach the Central summit this season."