Denis Urubko: " I think now, how Simone and me can climb a new route?! "

Denis Urubko for www.russianclimb.com

We do according our plan, only I think now, how Simone and me can climb a new route?! All our partners have refused from this expedition. Ed Viesturs on the Everest, and Ralf had been injured by the stone on Shisha Pangma. It’s the truth, we have not yet received the final refusal from Gerlinde and the Japanese climber. Boris has helped us at Khali -Himal, and he’s hard aspired on Annapurna. It’s not his fault, that partners have refused to support us... And how can we left him? We can't tell – excuse us, Boris, climb alone... Probably, it is necessary to climb the classic route. I can’t find the decision. I has arrived on 8000-er for a new route for the first time, and I can not climb it. Boukreev would understand me. And I heard that the monsoon is already in Bengal bay and it’ll come for one week earlier... Shortly, everything is against us.

May, 16-th we went up from base camp with icecrews and 250 m of a ropes. There was a place of Camp 1 at 5000 m, above the first icefall. There’s a moraine under rocks, water, warm and beautiful view of the top part of mountain. Next day we have crossed a plateau of a glacier and have begun to climb along the second icefall. It wasn’t so dangerous, as below, but we had to leave 150 m of a rope for the descent. We set our Camp 2 at 5900 – at the place like 5 football fields. We were acclimatized well - felt fine. The route through icefalls is more difficult, than it looks from the bottom of the mountain. Or there’re this year conditions? On the third icefall it appeared that our equipment wasn’t enough – we could go up, but the descent can be dangerous and long. Shortly, we have fixed all our ropes, and rappeled from 6250-6300. Than we spent night at 5900, and today we got up at 4 a.m., and by 9.10 we arrived to base, having lost almost 2 kms of height. The vegetation became more active during our absence. The battle with a phalanx who has got accustomed in my tent, was finished by a drawn game. It has hidden somewhere, fortunately, not inside the tent. There’s "the country of waterfalls " around us. Fluffy clouds are going up from the valley, and fall as warm spicy rains soon... There’s like in a fairy tale. I has also shaved with the warm water.:)

This place looks like the special one for feats and honeymoons. I can imagine, what the members of French expedition in 1950 felt here. Fantastics! And I also can imagine how they came back! Heroes, who could touch forbidden snows of the Goddess of Fertility. Annapurna, here you are...

Denis, May, 19, 14-42

20.05.2004