Nanga Parbat in winter: Poles continue. Moro, Göttler and Nardi end expedition

"Too much wind, too cold. Too dangerous. They are coming down to C3" With these words, publish on Friday night, Emilio Previtali announced that the third attempt by Simone Moro, David Göttler, Tomasz Mackiewicz and Pawel Dunaj to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat had been aborted and that all were descending. Various updates followed in the ensuing hours and on Saturday the announcement was made that all members of the two expeditions on the Rupal Face had returned safely to Base Camp. This marks the end of Simone Moro and David Göttler's attempt to make the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, a dream that had begun last December and that has now finished without the summit.

Contrary to what was initially believed, the Polish expedition's dreams and hopes remain alive and kicking. Just a few hours ago the following was published on the official website: "We are planning a few days of rest in BC and we are going up again. Our acclimatisation is superb, we have plenty of power. The spirits are high, we had a vote today and everyone said "We are staying!" We need to extend our visas and climbing permit now...We (Tomek and David) got to Mazeno ridge - 7200m - we could see the other side...unfortunately there was a weather change- winds as strong as 70km/h. W e have plenty of food, plenty of gear, ropes are fixed, Simone has left us plenty of goodies - parmesan cheeses, sausages, sleeping bags...we have a deposit and a tent in Camp 3, (...) plenty of power, another deposit in Camp 4... we will keep trying..." So, as they rightly state, on Nanga Parbat "it is not game over yet!"

At present the Italian - German expedition is packing up Base Camp and this will be followed by time for details, to comprehend what happened during these crucial hours and to understand exactly what they achieved during this third attempt. What is clear though is that Moro was forced to descend early, from just above Camp 2, due to stomach problems that forced him to turn back. David Göttler and Tomasz Mackiewicz for their part managed to establish Camp 2 at circa 7000m and ascend another 200m before turning back.

What is also clear is that conditions on the other side of the mountain, on the Diamir face, were such that they convinced Daniele Nardi to abandon his solo first winter ascent attempt. Before him, in December, Germany's Ralf Dujmovits and Poland's Dariusz "Darek" Zaluski had come to the same conclusion. So this winter Nanga Parbat has rejected three expeditions. But not the Polish one, for which we continue to keep our fingers crossed.

The expeditions:
www.thenorthfacejournal.com
Facebook Emilo Previtali
Facebook Simone Moro
simonemoro.gazzetta.it
Nangadream.blogspot.com
www.danielenardi.org