The whole team of climbers is now at the BC of Annapurna, having reached C3 (6,400m) this morning on the third high altitude rotation of their #AnnapurnaColdPeaks winter expedition. Unfortunately, upon arrival they found that the deposit (stakes, ice screws, 2,000 meters of rope, gas, 3 snowbound tents) had «disappeared», due to the collapse of one of the ice structures.
According to the biscayan, «we have lost the entire C3 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».
Specifically, what has happened is that «the area where the deposit was located in C3 has given way, forming a crack through which all the material has been lost. 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,» says Txikon. This has forced the whole team to return to BC.
