Josef “Dodo” Kopold reports that his Slovakian partner, Marek Hudak, has been missing for three days, likely around Camp 2, on Shishapangma (8013m), Tibet, Himalaya. Hudak and Kopold made a summit bid together on April 24; just before Kopold reached the top, Hudak decided to turn around, and began descending fixed ropes. During Kopold’s return from the summit, he stopped in Camp 2 (7000m) to find that Hudak was missing: “[Camp 2] was buried under the snow. Marek wasn’t there. I found his ice axe and one glove.”
The pair’s plans were to climb a first ascent on Shishapangma’s northwest face. Their attempt this week, however, was on the British Route (Baxter-Jones, MacIntyre and Scott, 1982), which ascends the south face. As part of the same expedition, Hudak accompanied Kopold on Cho Oyu’s (8201m) normal route last month to acclimatize for Shishpangma (read the April 13 NewsWire report here).
More information will be posted as it becomes available.