Club Alpino Ama Dablam and the himalayan Manuel González Lolo presented the documentary Expedición Kanchenjunga 2022 on 30th June at the climbing walls of San Pedro Alcántara (Málaga), located in the Palacio de Deportes Elena Benítez. Lolo himself stars in this film, in which he narrates in first person the ascent to the third highest mountain on the planet, with 8,586 metres, after Everest and K2.
After reaching 8,000 metres twice, Lolo returned without the prize of the summit in one of his toughest expeditions among his seventeen eight-thousand-metre expeditions. The Kanchenjunga expedition, sponsored by LA LÍNEA VERTICAL and the San Pedro Alcántara Town Council, is part of the 8000 Project, with which Club Alpino Ama Dablam aims to attempt the ascent of the 14 eight-thousand-metre peaks on the planet.
In 2023, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Club Alpino Ama Dablam, it is finally Shishapangma, the only one whose ascent has not yet been attempted by the San Pedro Alcántara club, which will also have the support of LA LÍNEA VERTICAL. With this expedition, scheduled for next spring, the 8,000 Project also culminates and will close the cycle of the 14 eight-thousanders.
After last year’s attempt to the summit of Nanga Parbat, Lolo González faced the ascent of Kanchenjunga with great enthusiasm, but after more than fifty days he was unable to reach the summit.
The expedition took place between 1 April, when he flew to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and gateway to the Himalayas, until his return to Malaga on 22 May after a helicopter transfer from base camp to avoid descending the complicated Yanlung glacier. He returned to Kathmandu after reaching the town of Bhadrapur.
The summit attempt was made with an international group of 13 climbers and 10 Sherpas, following the route of the first ascent of “the five treasures of the snows” – gold, silver, gems, grain and sacred books – which is how the name Kanchenjunga translates from Nepali. This first route along the southern slope was completed on 25 May 1955 by British climbers George Band and Joe Brown. This route runs through glacial terrain, ending in a section of mixed climbing on rock, ice and snow. This route of ascent on the south slope of Kanchenjunga places the technical difficulties offered by the mountain at the level of K2.