After an unusually dry winter, Annapurna is a diamond-hard surface of rock and sheer ice, with almost no snow. For climbers, that’s not necessarily bad.
The eight-man Sherpa team fixing ropes on Annapurna had to retreat yesterday for an unusual reason: They ran out of ice screws. In previous years, they mainly used snow anchors sunk deeply into the fresh snow. This time, all they found was a hard, icy surface where their crampons barely bit in.
Angela Benavides graduated university in journalism and specializes in high-altitude mountaineering and expedition news. She has been writing about climbing and mountaineering, adventure and outdoor sports for 20+ years.
Prior to that, Angela Benavides spent time at/worked at a number of local and international media. She is also experienced in outdoor-sport consultancy for sponsoring corporations, press manager and communication executive, and a published author.
