Himalaya Fall 2018: Teams Leave Dhaulagiri and Annapurna Due to Poor Conditions
The fall 2018 climbing season has turned toward the finish line. While there are still a number of teams in the region that are focused on making their ascents up various big mountains, the bulk of the commercial squads have now wrapped up their expeditions and are heading home. Last week was a successful one on Manaslu, Cho Oyu, and Shishapangma, with dozens of climbers topping out across those three peaks. Now, those teams are heading home, as are a few squads that weren't quite so successful this autumn. Over on Dhaulagiri the mountain is now all but deserted. As we've mentioned several times throughout the season, heavy snowfall and generally poor weather conditions kept the climbers in Base Camp for much of September, prevented them from properly acclimatizing. So when October arrived, and summits were being recorded on other 8000-meter peaks in Nepal and Tibet, Dhaulagiri was still getting blasted with high winds, heavy snow, and unstable conditions. Eventually this cause...