Two climbers were trying to set out to explore a new alpine-style route in Pakistan when bad weather forced them to abandon their plans.
“Triboule will keep its secret. We have not reached the summit,” wrote France’s Helias Milleriu.
He and fellow Chamonix guide and Piolet d’Or winner Yannick Graziani were trying to pioneer a new route up the southeast ridge of Tribol (7,600 metres) in the Batura range of the Karakoram mountain range.
After being stuck at base camp for 12 days, with relentless rain and snow above 6,000m, Mileliu and Graziani decided to take their chances with the weather forecasted for July 25-28. They will be climbing in pure alpine style (no oxygen, no support, in one go) and set off last Monday.
Climbing in the afternoon to avoid the frequent morning avalanches, they completed the long southeast corridor on the first day, before reaching the crux of the climb, a 150m high, densely packed snow cornice, on the second day.
While at base camp, the climbers thought they had found the trail. But as they approached it on July 24, the path upwards was not clear. They considered just climbing up to see what was ahead. But the snow was still falling, and Graziani’s health was failing. He feared he would be in bad shape in the more treacherous terrain up the route.
“We weren’t strong enough,” Mireliu said.
They returned to base camp yesterday and set off on their hike.
Helias Mireliu (left) and Yannick Graziani in 2016. Photo: Ferran Latorre
“Mount Tribol has only been climbed once before,” concludes Milleriu. “Opening a new route on a large mountain in the Karakoram is extremely rare. It requires a lot of patience and humility.”
The full report is available in French on Mireliu’s Instagram page.
