Mike Horn and Fred Roux on the summit of Mount Dolent
22 September 2014 – Mike Horn and Valaisan alpinist, Fred Roux climb to the summit of Mount Dolent in Valais, Switzerland and descend with parapentes, as part of a promotion film called the ’13 Faces of Valais’. Breathtaking scenery is beautifully captured by photographer David Carlier.
It is generally considered the tripoint between Italy, Switzerland and France, although the point itself lies at 3,749 metres, north-west of the summit of Mont Dolent.
Mike and Fred returned to Makalu base camp today at 4’800m.
Now its the waiting game. Waiting to make the attempt of the final summit push.
The mountain is gradually becoming busier with more tents popping up by the day. Wonderful acquaintances are being made with other climbers and the excitement is shared as the climbers all wait for the next good weather window.
Yes!! We arrived safe and sound at the lower base camp of Makalu at 4’800m. Our tents are pitched in front of Makalu and I feel dwarfed by its size towering out far above us at 8’463m.
From here we will finalize and repack the equipment we will need at high base camp. The sherpas are still with us and will stay until we reach the high base camp, 1’000m higher in altitude. Once there, we will install our permanent camp for the next 6 weeks.
Fred and myself have adapted well to the altitude. We will stay here for 1 day longer to acclimatize before we head up any further to our permanent Base Camp at 5’800m. Our bodies need to create enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to our muscles, brain and organs to be able to function at these higher altitudes.
Our tents are pitched in front of Makalu and I feel dwarfed by its size towering out far above us at 8’463m.
Markus and Adrian will stay one day longer before they decide to move any higher. At these altitudes time and patience are the key to success.
The weather has not been great but it does not matter because we cannot climb at the moment. I prefer to have better weather when we will start our climb by mid next week.
No better place to be! The food is good, the company is great and I wake up excited about the challenge that lies ahead of me every morning.
Keep on watching this space for daily news updates as we make our way higher up in altitude.
