Himalaya 2014: Progress Reports From Other Mountains

While hearts are heavy with the news from Everest today, climbers on other peaks have been checking in with progress reports as well. Much like the teams on the Big Hill, they are mostly just getting underway, and starting their acclimatization process. But with the season starting to roll, there will be more things to report soon.

Denis Urubko and his team, which includes, Artem Brown, Adam Bielecki, and Alex Txikon, are on their way to Kangchenjunga where they will soon begin their attempt of a new route on the North Face of that mountain. At 8586 meters (28,169 feet) in height, it is the third tallest peak in the world, behind only K2 and Everest. It is also a considerable challenge to climb no matter which route you choose. After acclimatizing in the region, Denis and company will attempt an alpine style ascent, without Sherpa support at altitude. They should arrive in Base Camp this weekend.

Mike Horn and Fred Roux are now in BC on Makalu, where they'll be attempting an alpine style ascent as well. They'll also being going up without Sherpa support, and sans bottled oxygen. They are just starting to get settled into place, and haven't posted too many updates just yet, but expect to hear more from them soon. Makalu is the fifth tallest mountain in the world, standing 8481 meters (27,825 ft) in height.

Aussie climber Chris Jensen Burke has her sights set squarely on Makalu this spring as well, and should arrive in Base Camp today. She reports heavy snow on the trail, but BC is said to have no powder at the moment. This will serve as a warm-up for other things to come. This summer, Chris will head to Pakistan to attempt K2.

Finally, Mike and Matt Moniz are on Cho Oyu, where they are acclimatizing for their first 8000 meter peak of the year. The father and son team (Matt is just 16 years old), are attempting to put together a Himalayan triple-header this spring. Once they wrap up their climb in Tibet, they'll jump back across the border to Nepal, where they'll attempt Everest and Lhotse as well. They report that things are going great so far, and their first rotations have been successful ones.