Climbing
See David Lama’s expedition to an unclimbed peak
David Lama and Conrad Anker attempted to climb Lunag Ri, on the Tibetan-Nepalese border.
David Lama climbing on Lunag Ri
© Menk Rufibach/Red Bull Content Pool
In November 2015, Austrian climber David Lama and his American climbing partner Conrad Anker embarked on an expedition to the unconquered 6,907m-tall peak of Lunag Ri on the border between Nepal and Tibet.
The pair went all or nothing on a day of good weather to try and reach the summit and made a video about the expedition.
Did they make it? Take a look here… it’s tense.
Watch David Lama and Conrad Anker’s attempt on Lunag Ri here
9 min
High Spirits – David Lama and Lunag Ri
David Lama and Conrad Anker make an attempt on the unclimbed Lunag Ri in the Himalayas.
The climbers had been battling freezing temperatures and forecasts of strong winds when the opportunity for an attempt at the summit arose.
Lama explained: “We have one day of perfect weather and we want to use it. After that the wind will pick up. We want to stake everything on one card and just try it. We will go full throttle, leave our bivvy gear behind and try to reach the summit with a light pack.”
We had the perfect weather and we wanted to use it.
Conrad Anker climbs on Lunag Ri
© Servus TV/Mammut/Red Bull Content Pool
They had a thrilling climb, and at times with little protection. Says Lama: “On the ridge, the snow conditions were terrible for a few pitches and we found no ice. We had to do 100m pitches. The first climbs the full length of the rope, and then the second follows while the first continues. That way both climb simultaneously and one climber needs to be right of the cornice and one climber needs to be left of the cornice. In case someone falls you want each one on a different side so the ridge is the protection.”
But the summit wasn’t to be reached, and the pair decided to call it a day when they realised they weren’t going to reach the top and get back to their tents in time.
See their POV footage here
The summit would have been a great achievement, but the trip was also a poignant one for Lama, who was visiting the country of his father's birth – and home to a mountain that has always fascinated him.
We were over-ambitious, we bit off more than we can chew.
Veteran climber Anker was enthused by the experience: “You’re going up there to a place no one has ever been, on a spine of rock which is the watershed between Tibet and Nepal, it’s just a fascinating place to be.
“We should have moved our camp up, and we didn’t and that was our mistake. So we were over-ambitious, we bit off more than we can chew.”
Approaching the climb
© Martin Hanslmayr/Red Bull Content Pool
Will they be back? They think so.
The full documentary on the first ascent of Lunag Ri by David Lama and Conrad Anker will be seen in the autumn of 2016 on Servus TV.
The documentary will also be shown as part of the European Outdoor Film Tour 2016/17.