Most of you might have heard already that Russell Brice has cancelled all his Himalayan expeditions for this season. The reason is the particularly dangerous route through the icefall this year as well as the rockfall on the Lhotse Face. You will find the reasons for this…
We have just come back down from Lobuje East and, as always, it was beautiful. Lobuje offers the most amazing views of the surrounding peaks and when we go back up on Tuesday for our two nights of acclimatisation, I shall post a picture of the panorama…
After about 12 days at base camp I am looking forward to going climbing again – even though it is only obuje East, a peak that I have already climbed eight times. I will be joining our Lhotse and Nuptse teams and will be going with my…
I am sitting on a rock near Pumori base camp after I went for a short morning walk to blow away the cobwebs. I have been at base camp for five days now and even though it is great to be here there is a lot of…
This is just a quick hello from base camp - or rather Gorak Shep, the last village before base camp from where we can send data via mobile 3G technology. I had a good walk in and met a few people on the trail, which is always…
After almost one month in Kathmandu it is time to leave again and go to the Everest Region – an area I know so well and I am very much looking forward to going back to and taking in the stunning views of the surrounding Himalayan giants.…
Since I wrote my last entry, my life has literally rushed past me as it took me only five days to get from the summit of Manaslu to my new job in Bern. I am sure it is not the record but my poor body and mind…
“Billli, where exactly are you?” Russell called me over the radio. “I am about 10 minutes away from the real summit,” I replied from the point everyone calls the “rock tower”. I had been climbing for exactly eight hours and as Russell was determined that I should…
This is just a brief update to let you know that I have done it! I summited Manaslu, the 8th highest mountain in the world, without the use of supplementary oxygen! I will write more and post some pictures once I get back to Kathmandu or Switzerland,…
While I am writing this I am lying in my tent which is engulfed in a huge cloud and I can hardly see the tent next to mine. But despite this latest fog at base camp, the weather has improved hugely over the past two days and…
This is just a brief update to let you know that we had to abandon our summit attempt and are back at base camp. After having spent one night at Camp I at 5,570m, during which it continuously snowed and left about 50cm of fresh snow on the ground, we were called back by Russell, our expedition leader.
Ascent of Manaslu 2011: Earthquake, acclimatisation, incessant rain, amazing Sherpas, walking with the wounded. Billi Bierling's dispatch from basecamp.
This is Billi's robot. Billi just called from basecamp where she is sitting in the rain, waiting. Yesterday at 6.10pm local time, a 6.8 earthquake struck on the Nepal Sikkim border, pretty much under Kanchenjunga. In Kathmandu it was felt apparently as a 4.8 earthquake which is…
Billi Bierling has returned to Manaslu with Russel Brice and the Himex crew plus a team from the UK from Walking with the Wounded.
When I arrived in Kathmandu last Sunday, I had no idea that this was the day of the country’s general elections. I had long lost track of who was actually ruling the country as the seat of the prime minister has been swapped around a few times…
