Simone Moro Falls into Crevasse, Ends Gasherbrum Attempt

Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger had been enduring harsh conditions during their winter attempt on Gasherbum I. Having survived a close call with an avalanche last week, Moro was lucky to live through a crevasse fall today.

“We were finally out of the icefall, we had passed the last big crevasse and proceeded to the summit plateau,” Moro said. Moro was seconding a glacier pitch when he fell 20 metres deep into a crevasse. Lunger stopped his fall while wearing snowshoes, but she sustained burns to her hands.

After two hours, he climbed out of the crevasse. “While I was climbing, Tamara, crying with pain, managed to organize a nice anchor to secure me while I was climbing the 20 endless metres of smooth ice.” They made it back to base camp and got a helicopter the next day.

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• PAKISTAN – 2019 ??• All's well that ends well. Without going too far around the concept, yesterday we really came just a breath away from a tragic and disastrous epilogue for both Tamara and me. We were planning to spend two nights on the mountain, reach camp 1, sleep there and then head to camp 2 the next day. We were FINALLY out of the icefall, we had passed the last big crevasse and proceeded to the summit plateau. Always tied up because we knew that the crevasses were always lurking and antennas were always straight but the morale was high and the satisfaction of having overcome everything. The big ice maze. But the day was not over and what lay ahead was terrible. Approaching a crevasse I put myself in position as always to secure Tamara who first crossed it and then moved into the safety zone, 20 meters beyond the crevasse. Then it was my turn and after a split second, a chasm opened under my feet and I fell. Tamara suffered such a violent tear that she literally flew to the edge of the crevasse while I free falling upside down for 20 meters banging back legs and buttocks on the blades of ice suspended in the endless gut where I continued to descend. No more than 50 cm wide, in complete darkness. [ Discover the full story on my FB page ] ________________________________________ • GASHERBRUM WINTER EXPEDITION • #NeverStopExploring • Theme: #SimoneMoroAlpinist • Photo: @matteozanga • Sponsored by: @thenorthface @dfsportspecialist @lasportivagram @garminoutdoor @camp1889 @gruppo_autotorino @somainitalia @acerbissport @turkishairlines @leonardo_helicopters @altitude_helicopters • @ThurayaTelecom @_Intermatica_ • Managed by: @mz_sportsandbeyond

A post shared by Simone Moro (@iamsimonemoro) on Jan 19, 2020 at 9:07am PST