Blogi

2.4.2015

Kattava selonteko Annapurnan tapahtumista / A comprehensive account of the events on Annapurna

Retki-lehden tänään julkaistu uutinen kertoo Samulin huipulle noususta, viimeisistä hetkistä, tapahtumista ennen putoamista ja oikaisee tähän asti liikkeellä olleet osittain virheelliset tiedot.

An article published today by Retki magazine sheds light on Samuli Mansikka’s journey to Annapurna’s summit, his last moments and events before the fall.

The article is only available in finnish. Rough English translation / summary of the events:

Samuli flew to Annapurna BC on the 5th of March. He had aqcuired the Basecamp service from a company called Dreamers Destination which was taking 12 climbers to the Annapurna summit.

The conditions on the mountain were difficult and the amount of snow considerable. On the 17th Samuli tweeted climbing from BC to C2 (5700m) was ”pure hell” because of it.

Samuli left C4 for the summit on the early hours of the 24th of March. He was climbing the mountain as an independent mountaineer like he had done on many other mountains before. He didn’t have a guide or support. He was however climbing with a group of Dreamers Destination clients that day. For a big part of the day Samuli was the first person going up breaking trail in deep snow. Advancing was slow and since the summit wasn’t on sight by 2pm the leader of the Dreamers Destination group decided that the group turns back down.

Based on the information Samuli had gathered by studying photos of the route and interviewing people who had been to the summit he knew it was near. He asked the group to wait for a moment, climbed a bit higher and informed the others that the summit was on sight. Samuli was the first to reach the summit – also all others reached it.

He was also the first one to start making the way back down. It’s unknown if Pemba Sherpa followed Samuli but at some point he caught up with him. No one saw how or in which conditions the fall happened. The Dreamers Destination group detected the victims on their way down – they were lower in roughly 6700 meters. The group made an alert and resque preparations were started. Since no signs of life were detected the resque mission was called off. The bodies are on a mountainside, not on a crevasse.

On the 28th of March Samuli’s good friend and colleague Phil Crampton of Altitude Junkies organized a mission (Nepalese government wasn’t involved) to recover the bodies by using a helicopter. The bodies were located and an attempt to reach them by a long-line technique was made. Unfortunately the mission had to be aborted because it was endangering the safety of the resquers. Mountaineers understand the risks that are related to the sport and wouldn’t want others to risk their lives trying to rescue or recover them.

The purpose of this post is to correct the partially misleading information that has been available so far.

26.3.2015

Samuli Mansikan menehtyminen vahvistettu / Loss of Samuli Mansikka confirmed

Nepalin turismiministeriö on julkaissut lehdistötiedotteen, joka vahvistaa Samuli Mansikan ja kansainvälisen ryhmän sherpana toimineen Pemba Sherpan menehtymisen. Ilmoituksen mukaan he joutuivat kadoksiin noin 7100 metrissä 24. maaliskuuta ja heidän ruumiinsa on löydetty 7000 metristä eilen (25. maaliskuuta).

Lähde: Altitude Pakistan

Nepalese Tourism Ministry released a press statement confirming the unfortunate loss of Samuli Mansikka and Pemba Sherpa. Report says that they went missing at around 7100m on March 24th and their bodies have been recovered from 7000m, yesterday (March 25th).

Source: Altitude Pakistan

25.3.2015

Samuli Mansikka on kateissa

Samuli Mansikka on kateissa – asiaan liittyy toistaiseksi paljon epäselvyyttä. Lisätiedotus hoidetaan näiden sivujen kautta.

2.3.2015

Samuli Mansikka Annapurna 2015 Expedition is on!

Samuli is in Nepal and attempting Annapurna 1 (8091m.) in March-April! He is sharing Mingma Gyaljen Sherpa’s international team for basecamp services. Above that (4200m.) he will be doing his own carries but will be working together with other teams on the mountain. No bottled oxygen will be used.
Follow the trip on blog and on Twitter and Instagram!

2.3.2015

Annapurna Expedition starts!

Best greetings from my second home town Kathmandu! I arrived here on 28th and am now ready to get to the mountains! I’ve got lot of my gear stored here and every time it is one big packing operation upon my arrival. Now everything’s sorted and my stuff in fact is already on the way to Tatopani in Kali Gandaki valley.

Other than that I was this morning given blessing by Rinpoche in Boudha. I feel this is very important for me and would not feel good about going climbing these peaks without doing puja.
After puja we went to Ministry of Tourism for attaining our peak permit.

This trip is operated by my friend Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and his agency Dreamer’s Destination. I will be sharing his group’s basecamp and being provided services needed there. The permit’s shared by Mingma’s very international team consisting of climbers from China, Macedonia, Iran, US and Argentina. Above basecamp I will be doing my own carries, program and sort of climbing by myself. In reality, I am expecting to work together with all the teams on the mountain for added safety and changes to summit. Annapurna is a very dangerous mountain and I believe team-effort will be the key to success this time. I just bumped into Carlos Soria and the Spanish team in Thamel and am happy to be on the mountain with these lovely people.

So tomorrow on 3rd we are flying first to Pokhara from where we drive up Kali Gandaki valley to Tatopani. From Tatopani we are flewn to Annapurna Basecamp by helicopter on the morning of 4th.
I will be posting on my blog at www.samulimansikka.com, Twitter and Instagram so make sure to follow my progress on Annapurna!

Best wishes to all!

Samuli