Sources: www.montagna.org and www.karlunterkircher.com

In base camp, everything is ready for a high-altitude Lama helicopter rescue once Kehrer and Nones get down to 6000m, where it would be possible to land the helicopter safely and load the climbers. A longline rescue is also being discussed. But that will be very difficult, says Gerold Biner, chief pilot of Air Zermatt. The Swiss pilot and mountain rescue specialist assisted with the rescue of Tomaz Humar, who was nearly dead on the Rupal Face in 2005. "We were called to assist the Pakistani Army for the rescue mission, but they managed to pick up Tomaz before we could fly up to Nanga Parbat base camp. After the rescue of Humar, we kept in contact with the pilots, and they also came to Switzerland for an exchange of experience. During a longline course with Swiss rescue specialists they discovered how much is needed to do safe longline rescues. It is possible at that altitude, but it will be very difficult." Whether the pilots who are in Nanga Parbat base camp at this point are willing or able to perform a longline rescue at 6600m is unclear.

The ideal option would be for the two alpinists to descend to 6000m. Unfortunately, due to the weather, they are not making much progress. This morning Nones contacted base camp again. "His voice was clear, but timid and worried", Maurizio Gallo says. "Ten days and nine nights on the mountain are starting to leave scars on the guys." More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Sources: www.montagna.tv and www.karlunterkircher.com

Silvio Mondinelli, one of the rescuers in base camp, and two Pakistani high-altitude porters went up this morning to check glacier conditions. According to the Italian website montagna.org, Mondinelli indicated that the glacier looked very dangerous with many crevasses. "I don't want to be in those places," the Italian climber, who has summited all fourteen 8000m peaks, said.

Tomorrow, July 23, Kehrer and Nones again will try to descend further via the Buhl Route. A helicopter is on standby in base camp to take off as soon as the climbers reach an altitude of approximately 6000m. Unfortunately, bad weather is forecast for tomorrow, which means when the helicopter will be able to reach them, if at all, is uncertain.

Sources: www.montagna.org and www.karlunterkircher.com

The team was attempting a new route on the Rakhiot Face of Nanga Parbat after their success on Chongra Peak (read the July 10, 2008 NewsWire for details). Since Unterkircher's fall nearly a week ago, Kehrer and Nones have been trapped on the mountain, unable to rappel due to the severity of the route. They climbed on, but poor weather severed their contact with base camp. Meanwhile, Italian friends Maurizio Gallo and Silvio Mondinelli rushed to Pakistan to provide support from base camp.

The Pakistan army also is present in base camp with a helicopter for support. They hoped to perform a longline rescue for Kehrer and Nones (Tomaz Humar was evacuated off Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face by helicopter in 2005 –Ed.), but altitude forced the helicopter to drop a satellite phone at ca. 7000 meters instead. Having retrieved the phone, the pair contacted Gallo and Mondinelli yesterday, July 20, then made contact again today.

Kerher and Nones say they are now on the Bazin glacier at ca. 7000m and will bivouac tonight with enough provisions. Tomorrow they hope to beat back a blizzard that has overtaken the mountain and continue descending via the Buhl Route, the line of first ascent in 1953.

Sources: www.montagna.org, www.karlunterkircher.com, www.aiut-alpin-dolomites.com

One of the most prolific Exum mountain guides died Saturday evening while solo climbing a route on the 13,770-foot Grand Teton.

George Gardner--a 58-year-old Ridgeway, Colo., resident, educator, husband and father of two--was found dead by companion guides early Sunday morning beneath the Lower Exum Ridge route he was thought to have been climbing. He was not guiding clients at the time of the fall, said Jack Turner, Exum Mountain Guides president.

Rangers and fellow guides recovered the climber's body Sunday.

"Needless to say, we're all devastated," Turner said Sunday from Grand Teton National Park. "I don’t know a single human being that didn't love George."

The exact circumstances of Gardner's fall may remain a mystery, Turner said.

"What happened we don't and will never know," he said.

Park officials said the death is being investigated. Turner and others gave the following account of the events leading up to the incident.

Gardner left the valley floor Saturday with about four other guides and a group of clients, including youths from Wilderness Ventures. They were bound for the 11,650-foot-high Lower Saddle on the Grand and made that overnight camp relatively early Saturday afternoon. Guides prepared dinner before 5 p.m.

About that time, Gardner announced he was going to solo the Lower Exum Ridge route on the Grand, a somewhat common practice among guides, depending on their ability. Turner said it was a natural thing to do and that Gardner had guided the route and climbed it before, alone and without a rope.

"It was not something that was over and above him in any way," Turner said.

The route is rated 5.7 on the Yosemite Decimal Scale. Professional climbers would find the moves routine rather than exhausting, albeit without room for error for a solo climber. Most guided climbers reach the summit via the regular Exum Ridge, a route that avoids the 5.7 difficulties of the lower ridge.

"As far as we can see, he was not working for Exum," Turner said of the excursion. "He went off climbing by himself."

Fellow guides gave Gardner's departure little thought, but Christian Santelices heard the sound of falling rocks that evening. The sound came from the direction of the Grand, but Santelices said he could see no rocks coming out of the Stettner Couloir, a source for rockfall.

Darkness came and some of the guides became a little worried. But light from a set of headlamps appeared on the descent route from the peak and those in the camp figured it was Gardner, perhaps aiding a late party down.

"We just didn’t worry about him that much," Turner said.

Guides and clients went to sleep as the headlamp party descended. One of the guides awoke about 3 a.m. to find Gardner's sleeping bag empty.

"That signaled to us something was wrong," Turner said.

Guides organized, made phone calls, and set out for the mountain. Several began to ascend the Lower Exum while others went higher up the peak intending to descend the ridge.

Park rangers on the valley floor also organized for a response, summoning a helicopter. Early in the morning, guides on the Lower Exum called Turner to report seeing a body below. Soon after, they descended into the gully west of the route to find Gardner dead.

"We have no idea why he fell," Turner said. "It was perfect weather. He had climbed the route many times."

The guide was beyond competent, Turner said, calling him a "beautiful climber."

Recovery of Gardner's body, accomplished with a helicopter, was delayed when a rain shower moved through the Tetons early Sunday morning. Guides and clients descended from the camp on their own power.

Gardner was a veteran of the Himalaya and South America and had climbed across North America. By one account, he made more trips up the Grand for Exum last year than any other guide.

A teacher, he was known for the Himalaya semester he taught for Sterling College in Vermont. He had been guiding with Exum for 28 years.

Santelices, 40, called Gardner a mentor.

"He was someone who was passionate about being the best teacher and guide he could be," Santelices said, "especially with kids."

Fellow guide Hans Johnstone said his partner was joyous.

"He was a happy man," Johnstone said. "He was one of the most smiley guys you ever saw."

Gardner is survived by his wife, Colleen, son Michael, who was spending the summer with him at Exum's Guide's Hill base camp, and daughter Megan.

The Merced River Corridor is recognized and protected in two different ways at a federal level; the area falls within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, and was designated a Wild and Scenic River by the US Congress in 1987. Both of these levels of federal protection aim to guard the natural value of its resources while also allowing people to experience its unique nature. In the case of the Merced, a great deal of its unique value is born from the extraordinary rock climbing it offers. As more visitors flock to Yosemite Valley each year, the strain placed on areas like the Merced becomes heavier, and over the past few years, the issue has come to a head.

After a series of complicated lawsuits and injunctions, the officials of Yosemite National Park have found themselves in a demanding situation. The park, as ruled by the 9th Circuit Court of California, is required to develop a plan for the Merced area that will strike the ideal balance between protection and use. It seems inevitable that changes and restrictions will be imposed on area visitors, but the real challenge lies in developing restrictions that are not merely reactionary quotas. As Jason Keith, Policy Director for the Access Fund, explains: "The crux of the issue is how they [Yosemite National Park] are going to go about this planning process and follow the direction of the court while not making things completely arbitrary." Instead, he says, the Park should try for a policy "of more resource-based management that takes into account resource indicators, not just setting black and white numeric quotas."

Should Yosemite National Park fail to develop a plan of resource-based management and an accurate system through which to evaluate the impact of various users, climbers may be facing stricter regulations and quotas in the Valley. However, a series of planning meetings and collaborative efforts with other interested organizations has led to some concepts that could help strike the fragile and required balance. The Access Fund has cited camping rules in the area as an outstanding example of how the park can successfully manage the resource and visitors to the area. Instead of removing campsites or campgrounds, the Access Fund (among other organizations) believes that Yosemite should increase the number of campsites in the Valley. They feel that an increase in the more primitive-type camping opportunities in the park, and the removal of some of the more luxury lodging in the area, would not only help people connect to the protected nature of the valley, but also in turn reinforce responsible stewardship. It is constructive changes like this that the Access Fund and many others hope to see instead of blanket quotas and restrictions.

Ironically, as the Park makes efforts in collaboration with the Access Fund and other organizations, the issue has been somewhat exacerbated by the injunctions filed by the coalition known as Friends of the Yosemite Valley. In an effort to reverse damage, encourage restoration and promote responsible management of the Merced, Friends of the Yosemite Valley brought all current projects underway by the National Park Service to a complete halt. The irony, says Keith, halting processes such as sewage treatment has actually been to the further detriment of the Wild and Scenic corridor of the Merced.

While the injunctions no doubt caused frustration among various parties, the fact remains that all involved groups have the same goal: they want to preserve and promote responsible use of an extremely unique area. Meetings and discussions about the management of the Merced continue to occur in Yosemite. On June 5th, 2008, the National Park's deadline for a revised draft of their plan for the Merced River Corridor was extended until 2011. It is hoped that a revised and fair plan will be in place beginning in 2012.

The dilemma that climbers and other park users are facing in the Yosemite Valley is not an isolated phenomenon. As more and more climbers, mountaineers and other visitors flock to unique and remarkable natural areas like the Merced, the question of responsible and fair management will become familiar to local organizations. Perhaps the lesson to be taken from the Yosemite Valley dilemma, Keith suggests, is one of involvement, communication and collaboration. Open lines of dialogue with all interested parties, from climbers and guides to Park Service officials to concerned community members, the varying perspectives and needs brought to the discussion are crucial to achieving dynamic, resource-based management programs that protect unique areas as well as encourage environmentally minded interaction and use.

Sources: Jason Keith, www.accessfund.org, www.nps.gov

"Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer had to continue their ascent of Nanga Parbat as it was impossible for them to return via the same route," Mussner stated.

It is unclear precisely what Unterkircher's condition is at the present, but the Italian team has not expressed optimism in regards to performing a rescue. More information will be posted on Alpinist.com as it becomes available.

Sources: Herbert Mussner, www.desnivel.com, www.intraisass.it

It is now unclear as to whether or not Polish climber Piotr Morawski and Slovak Peter Hamor repeated the Gasherbrum I (26,509') and Gasherbrum II (26,362') traverse via the route originally established by Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander twenty-four years ago (read the July 14, 2008 NewsWire for more information). The third member of the "Himalayan Trilogy Dream Team," Piotr Pustelnik, is claiming that his companions Hamor and Morawski in fact descended to base camp during the eleven days between reaching the summit of GI and GII. Pustelnik explains that since the two descended to base camp "it wasn't a traverse itself, rather a double header." In order to be classified as a true traverse, the two would have had to follow Messner and Kammerlander's route along the ridge between the Gasherbrum peaks. "They are great and honest climbers," said Pustelnik. "I am sure that they want us to 'admire' their real achievements, not ones they didn't do. I am waiting anxiously for their original report."

For more information on this story, see www.desnivel.com and www.mounteverest.net

Three days after Nasti's death, Pungkas Tri Baruno of Jakarta, Indonesia, collapsed and died while descending Denali's West Buttress. Late on the afternoon of July 7, Baruno and one other Indonesian climber reached the summit, on a guided Mountain Trip expedition. That evening, within a quarter of a mile of Denali's high camp (17,200'), Baruno collapsed and died. According to the National Park Service's latest press release, "Baruno's guides initiated CPR and immediately called for assistance from another guided team at high camp via family band (FRS) radio. CPR was performed for over an hour, but they were unable to revive the patient... The cause of death is unknown at this time." As of July 8, the date of the latest press release, Baruno's remains were being kept in a protected area outside of the high camp until weather permits the National Park Service to retrieve them.

Both fatalities come in a season already marked by tragedy on Denali. On June 3, 2008, Denali mountaineering rangers led a technical rope rescue of Claude Ratte, who fell 2,000' from the West Buttress route (see the June 4, 2008 NewsWire for more information on the life-saving rescue). Ratte's rescue came on the heels of the tragic loss of two climbers on the mountain. Tatsuro Yamada and Yuto Inoue, both from Japan, did not return to base camp from the Cassin Ridge when expected on May 22, 2008. On May 29, the search was officially suspended and the climbers deemed lost (read the May 28 and May 29, 2008 NewsWires for more information on the lost climbers and search efforts).

Sources: Maureen McLaughlin, www.nps.gov/dena

Polish climber Piotr Morawski and Slovak Peter Hamor have completed the second traverse between Gasherbrum I (26,509') and Gasherbrum II (26,362'), Karakoram, Pakistan. The first successful traverse of GI and GII was made in 1984 by Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander. On June 18, 2008, Morawski and Hamor departed from base camp. On June 25, they reached the summit of GI via the Spanish route. Eleven days later, on July 6, the team reached the summit of GII via the ridge between the two peaks. Morawski and Hamor intended to continue on to make the first enchainment of GI, GII and GIII, but due to inclement conditions, were forced to return to base camp after completing the traverse.

Please visit www.everestexpedition.eu, www.explorersweb.com, www.zimbio.com, or www.k2climb.net for more on this story.