The South African team are en route for Trango Basecamp!!
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- The 2005 Team: Lef to right: Marianne Pretorius, Andreas Kiefer, James Pitman, and Peter Lazarus. The team summited Trango’s nameless Tower via the Slovenia route. They are the first South Africans to summit that karakorum Spire.
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- Rob and Douard with their 160 kg of luggage at the airport.
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- Visa = Sorted. Going in person really helped, the embassy staff were super helpful, friendly and most importantly, understanding to a mountaineers needs!
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- A little bit of luggage. Stage 3 – we journey to Askole, the last stopping point before we begin our 4 day hike to Trango basecamp.
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- We did see glimpses of the top of the mountain, and no we could not see Cathy O Dowd and team :-)
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- The Trango 2012 team on the Karakoram highway Pakistan. In the back ground stands Nanga Parbat 8126m (according to the sign). he team Dobek Pater(trekking), Carter Jensen(USA), Adam Liebenberg, Neil Grimmer (trekking), Douard le Roux, Alard and Shelly Hufner and Robert Powel.
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- Hiking up the gully was hard work due to loose terrain and altitude.
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- Alard on sunny terrace frying up some freeze dried potato on a jetboil, using a snow shovel as a pan.
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- Shelly on Sunny terrace with the prominent triangle of K2 in the back ground. Sunny terrace is about 7 pitches up on a big shoulder. From here most of the routes start.
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- Douard enjoying the view from Sunny Terrace.
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- Shelly abseiling with heavy loads.
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- Beautiful view from base camp overlooking a small lake.
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- Basecamp nestled between a glacier and mountains. We shared base camp with some Austrian, Polish and Slovak climbing teams.
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- Everyone from base camp
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- Shelly, Alard, Douard and Robert departing trango Tower….. a successful expedition.
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- Alard, Douard and Rob on the summit
You can follow the teams progress on their Facebook Page and their blog.
The team members are:
- Alard Hufner
- Douard Le Roux
- Robert Powell
- Shelley Hufner
- Adam Liebenberg
- Voytek Modrewski
- Neil Grimmer
Their main objective: is to ascend the Nameless Tower AKA Trango Tower. Commonly regarded as one of the most difficult towers in the world.
Technical climbing finishing at 6230 meters / 20439 feet above sea level.
Secondary Objectives: New routing in the Trango and surrounding ranges. With different skill sets amongst the team, they will be looking to do first ascents involving ice climbing, mountaineering and rock climbing. Once at base camp, they will assess the availability of unclimbed peaks in the area, the team are very excited about making a first ascent on a new line in the area.
The 2005 Trango team - Left to right: Marianne Pretorius, Andreas Kiefer, James Pitman, and Peter Lazarus. The team summited Trango's nameless Tower yerterday through the Slovenia route. They are the first South Africans to summit that karakorum Spire.
On the 21st of August 2005, a South African team, composed of Peter Lazarus, Marianne Pretorius, James Pitman and Andreas Kiefer, climbed to the summit via the Slovenian route. Marianne was the third woman to reach the summit.
See the report on the 2005 expedition –> South Africans take Trango Tower
See more info on the teams website: trango2012.com
The team is sponsored by:
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- The 2005 Team: Lef to right: Marianne Pretorius, Andreas Kiefer, James Pitman, and Peter Lazarus. The team summited Trango’s nameless Tower via the Slovenia route. They are the first South Africans to summit that karakorum Spire.
-
- Rob and Douard with their 160 kg of luggage at the airport.
-
- Visa = Sorted. Going in person really helped, the embassy staff were super helpful, friendly and most importantly, understanding to a mountaineers needs!
-
- A little bit of luggage. Stage 3 – we journey to Askole, the last stopping point before we begin our 4 day hike to Trango basecamp.
-
- We did see glimpses of the top of the mountain, and no we could not see Cathy O Dowd and team :-)
-
- The Trango 2012 team on the Karakoram highway Pakistan. In the back ground stands Nanga Parbat 8126m (according to the sign). he team Dobek Pater(trekking), Carter Jensen(USA), Adam Liebenberg, Neil Grimmer (trekking), Douard le Roux, Alard and Shelly Hufner and Robert Powel.
-
- Hiking up the gully was hard work due to loose terrain and altitude.
-
- Alard on sunny terrace frying up some freeze dried potato on a jetboil, using a snow shovel as a pan.
-
- Shelly on Sunny terrace with the prominent triangle of K2 in the back ground. Sunny terrace is about 7 pitches up on a big shoulder. From here most of the routes start.
-
- Douard enjoying the view from Sunny Terrace.
-
- Shelly abseiling with heavy loads.
-
- Beautiful view from base camp overlooking a small lake.
-
- Basecamp nestled between a glacier and mountains. We shared base camp with some Austrian, Polish and Slovak climbing teams.
-
- Everyone from base camp
-
- Shelly, Alard, Douard and Robert departing trango Tower….. a successful expedition.
-
- Alard, Douard and Rob on the summit
Trango Nameless Tower (6239M) - Photo courtesy of summitpost.org
Flippin rad!
Stunning piece of rock! Good luck to you all.
So envious…..
A few years ago my brother Dave Davies, Patricia Gaertner and I were climbing at Rocklands. We had just done the classic Ceder Rouge when a few boulderers came over to check out the action. We offered them a whirl.
This super-ripped, very loud, big American guy grabbed the opportunity and his little buddy took the belay. Mr Big didn’t do the first delicate moves. He leapt up and grabbed the high rail with both hands. We were astounded and started to understand why he was so loud – ’cause he really was a big shot.
Only…. when he got half way he didn’t look totally composed and a vague wobble started to appear.
With unbridled interest we watched Mr Universe skip the second last bolt. He was running out of gas. He skipped the last bolt. He was poked. He lunged for the anchor chain and grabbed it.
For a second or two he held the chain but his body started to protest. Dave, Patricia, me and our new friend – one of Mr Special’s buddies – a lovely guy called Nick, were standing directly below.
We bolted in all directions.
Mr Muscle came hurtling earthwards. His little buddy went hurtling skywards. Into the first bolt went Mr Tiny and Mr Ripped torpedoed to within a metre of the hard earth. God it was shocking. But more than that – God it was funny..!
Nick quietly and modestly cruised the route. He praised it as 5-star. He wanted to make amends for his less-than-retiring countryman.
Anyway, so what’s the point of this stupid story…
Nick Martino had previously done The Nose on El Cap and the NW Face of Half Dome in something like 9 hours. Nick and a buddy then went over to climb Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower. They consulted a Czech team that had just completed the route and were told that there was no ice on top and so crampons were not required.
Nick and his partner bulleted up and climbed all the rock in daylight to find ice covering the last sloping 30m to the summit.
They didn’t claim the first one-day ascent as they couldn’t tag the top.
Maybe take one pair of crampons up?
good luck guys and girls…!
Now that looks awesome!
Shot for the Beta Hilton.
Awesome! Good luck guys. I look forward to hearing the stories when you’re back
Wow, Awesome guys. What a proud wall! Go dominate!
Wonder if a receding hair line is a factor in climbing this thing…..
Seems like there is a lot of hair missing from a lot of heads in the group.
Maybe Alard is wearing a wig?
The team are already at Base Camp. Tomorrow they will start hauling and fixing ropes.
Dear Trango friends nice to see on this website. Marianne Pretorius, Andreas Kiefer, James Pitman, and Peter Lazarus. God bless all of you. i am still alive and remember all of you. i hope you all well and safe with your family. if you have a time or not forget me plz contact me. amjad