Winter Climbs 2016: Internal Turmoil for International Team on Nanga Parbat

Posted on the 04 February 2016 by Kungfujedi @Kungfujedi
There still isn't a lot of news to report from Nanga Parbat, where weather conditions have deteriorated to the point that all the climbers are now stuck int heir respective Base Camps waiting for a summit window to open. It is unclear as to when that will happen at this point, but for now everyone sits and waits.
That said, it seems that the weather isn't the only thing has deteriorated in recent days. ExWeb is reporting that a rift has grown between Alex Txikon and Daniele Nardi, causing their team to splinter.  Alex will continue to work with Ali Sadpara, Simone Moro, and Tamara Lunger, but it is unclear what Daniele's plans entail at this point. It is highly likely that he is headed home, but that has not been announced just yet.
The two climbers apparently had regular disagreements as to how to proceed with the expedition, and it appears there was even a lot of tension around behavior while in Base Camp. The friction between the two became too great to continue working together, which resulted in the parting of ways.
Meanwhile, a few days back Alex and Ali attempted to climb up to Camp 1 in order to clear the route from the heavy snow that had fallen. Alex feel through the snow and found himself almost completely buried and was having a difficult time even breathing. Fortunately, his friend was able to dig him out, and both men descended back to BC as a result.
A few days later, they were joined be Simone and Tamara when they made a successful push back up to Camp 1. The team carried some supplies to that point, and were able to fully reopen the route. Alex and Ali took the opportunity to scout the situation above that point and saw that they weather had altered the route considerably .They will likely have to do some serious work to get it ready for another summit push.
That's it for now. Hopefully we'll see the weather improve soon, giving them a chance to move up. But at the moment, the waiting game continues.