“My decision was how can I bring this to an end in the most beautiful way,” Lama explained. If he wasn’t going to climb with Anker, he would climb solo. Lama did not make it easy on himself by climbing Lunag Ri solo, but that wasn’t entirely the point. Lama on the summit of Lunag Ri Photo from Red Bull Content Pool Why Climb Solo? Lama Explains Motivation With a very light pack, he belayed nothing on the first day, about 50 meters on the second, and 100 meters on the third. In all, he didn’t end up belaying for most of the route.
After a series of ice slabs and gulleys, Lama eventually made it to the summit. Because the headwall wasn’t visible from basecamp or any part of the route, Lama had to climb purely on intuition and what was immediately in front of him. He made it to the headwall for his second bivvy, marking a new high point on the route. the next day, he continued up the face toward the left ridge. Winds up to 50 mph and temperatures down to -22 degrees F kept him from climbing.Īt 6:00 a.m. He set up the tent at his first bivvy site and spent 24 hours there. Lama explained that rock and ice start to fall when the sun enters the valley. When he was ready, he started climbing Lunag Ri at 2:00 a.m. David Lama at base camp of Lunag Ri on OctoPhoto from Red Bull Content Pool In October, Lama settled into base camp for 10 days, spending time preparing and acclimatizing. Self-belaying is much more time-intensive, as climbers essentially travel the length of each self-belayed pitch three times. “Whenever you self-belay, you basically have to place an anchor at the bottom, climb up, fix the rope again, place an anchor at the top, then descend along the rope again to take down the lower anchor, then climb up the rope again.” “I spent a lot of time testing my self-belaying techniques, testing all of my gear, really finding the right strategy to make it as likely as possible,” Lama said. “I told them all I feel the need to go back by myself because I wanted to finish it off for Conrad and me in the most beautiful way that I could imagine.” Lama climbs one of the ridges of Lunag Ri Photo from Red Bull Content PoolĪnd because he knew ahead of time he was going to climb solo, he spent half a year preparing. “There were a bunch of other alpinists that asked to join me,” said Lama. And this time, he made the decision well ahead of time to go solo. This fall, Lama returned for his fourth attempt at the summit. Ultimately, however, he was forced to bail before reaching the top. In that solo push, Lama made it within 250 meters of the summit. It was not an easy decision for Lama to make, as seen in the documentary about the attempt: Shortly after Anker departed to Kathmandu and was deemed stable, Lama made a spur-of-the-moment decision to climb Lunag Ri. And during the beginning of their second attempt last year, Anker experienced a heart attack. The duo’s first trek brought them 300 meters from the summit. His first two were with Anker, one year between each attempt. Lama became fixated on the mountain three years ago and made four attempts since.
In fact, the Nepalese government only began to issue climbing permits over the past few years. It’s rare for such a striking mountain in the Himalayas to go unclimbed for this long. Lunag Ri, 22,660 feet, on the border of Nepal and Tibet Photo from Red Bull Content Pool Lunag Ri Climb: David Lama’s History With Iconic Peak We spoke with Lama, an athlete with The North Face, to learn what drove him to climb Lunag Ri solo and what it took to make it to the top. And he made it to the top and back down without any major complications. Over the course of three brutally cold days, Lama made his own bivouacs, rigged his own self-belays, and pushed to the summit. But Lama made the unique decision to climb alone. Normally, mountains of this stature demand a team or partner to climb. Before Lama, nobody had made it to the top. Composed of a mixture of snow, ice, and rock, it demands very technical rock climbing ability and skill. Lunag Ri is a gem of mountaineering, standing 22,660 feet tall on the border of Nepal and Tibet. The 28-year-old Austrian alpinist has made four total attempts, including the first two with Conrad Anker. On October 25, David Lama climbed Lunag Ri by himself, three years after his first attempt. That’s when I knew I was going to go back by myself.’ - David Lama on climbing Lunag Ri without Conrad Anker
He couldn’t justify it for his children, his wife, and also himself to a certain degree. ‘This spring, he realized he didn’t want to go back. Home » Climbing » Mountaineering » Why Climb Solo? David Lama Summits Lunag Ri Alone