Alex Txikon Team completes their third rotation on Annapurna, loses their materials at Camp-3

Alex Txikon Team is now at the Base Camp of Annapurna, having reached Camp-3 (6,400m) yesterday on their winter expedition's third high-altitude rotation.

As we have been told by the team, upon their arrival at Camp-3, they found that the deposits (stakes, ice screws, 2,000 meters of rope, gas, 3 snowbound tents) had "disappeared", due to the collapse of one of the ice structures.  "we have lost the entire Camp-3 deposit, and not because of the wind, but because of the collapse of one of the ice structures that has caused the disappearance of practically all the material we had in this camp, except for some coils of rope," Txikon Says.

This has forced the whole team to return to Base Camp.  "This is a complex terrain, with a set of seracs that could resemble an icefall. The way Annapurna is at the moment, with no precipitation and very low temperatures, there is practically no safe place," Txikon added. 

The Basque alpinist Alex Txikon and Italian climber Mattia Conte are on their ambitious expedition on Annapurna this winter. The team reached the Base camp on 22nd December, 2023. They have completed their third rotation up to Camp-3 on 11 January 2024. 

Now the whole team is resting at the BC of Annapurna and evaluating the possibilities of the movements in the coming days.

Camp-3

Annapurna-I