Ukrainian trio overcomes one of the biggest challenges in mountaineering

One of the biggest challenges in mountaineering in the world, the south-eastern side of the Annapurna III mountain, was climbed in October of this year. Climbing the 7,555 meters was a feat achieved by three Ukrainians: Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko, according to a report in the Spanish daily El País.

​Annapurana and its 8,091 meters was the first mountain over 8,000 meters to be conquered by man, the work of the adventure of Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, in June 1950. But the southeast side remained a great challenge, insurmountable despite previous attempts .

Also according to El Pais, the Ukrainians’ strategy was to learn from previous mistakes. Three climbers died in an avalanche in 2019. Another had to flee to escape the same end and wrote in 2010 that climbing was “not suicidal for alpine style: giant suspended blocks of ice, rotten rocks, ice… “

Alpine style is leaving base camp with all the necessary gear and sleeping on the mountain if necessary.

The Spanish newspaper reports that the Ukrainians realized that, with 40 kilos of equipment, they would need 12 days to climb the southeast side and return, without knowing for sure the location of the descent. They spent 18 days on the mountain trying to get as safe a path as possible. In the last six, each one ate only one and a half bar of energy drink a day.

The climbers made their blind descent down the south side of the mountain, hit by strong gusts of wind. They lost 13 kilos each and came to the brink of physical collapse. They were taken by helicopter to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.