Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer exit the Rakhiot Face: descent tomorrow descent via Buhl route

This is the news that everyone has been waiting for. So much so that the news arrived directly from Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer themselves. The two mountaineers have just climbed the Rakhiot Face on Nanga Parbat and tomorrow they will begin their descent via the Buhl, the route first climbed by the great Austrian mountaineer in 1953 during his first ascent of Nanga Parbat. Yesterday the two finally managed to get in touch via a satellite telephone lowered to them from a helicopter by a team coordinated by Maurizio Gallo and Silvio Mondinelli.

The telephone call was short but long enough to understand that Walter and Simon are in good shape and are capable of judged the situation correctly, seeing that they intend to descend according to the plans Karl Unterkircher had announced prior to the departure on his online diary (www.karlunterkircher.com). Nones and Kehrer, together with their leader Karl Unterkircher, had probably studied the route well and seeing that they still have their skis they probably still hope for the planned rapid ski descent. Speed is now of the essence as the weather worsened today and the forecast for tomorrow is even worse. The recconasaince helicopter flight failed to take off due to the weather and a technical problem.

In the meantime, confirmation of how dangerous these mountains are has come from the Iranian expedition which reached the summit of Nanga Parbat a few days ago via the Diamir face: they have now launched an official request to help them in their search for high altitude porters lost on the mountain. In truth this news has circulated for a couple of days and this once again confirms how difficult, dangerous and “abandoned” these high altitude territories really are.

Tomorrow will be an important day therefore for Walter Nonnes and Simon Kehrer. In all probability will have to descend alone, even if Maurizio Gallo and Silvio Mondinelli will do all they can from below. Walter and Simon know that they have not been abandoned and this is extremely important psychologically, even though they know full well that their fate lies in their own hands. They’ll succeed for themselves, for their families and also for Karl Unterkircher. Go on!