Het nieuws van de 7 summits voor 28 september – 4 oktober 2026. Berging na lawine op Himlung bereikt 11 lichamen terwijl de zoektocht doorgaat. Carlos Soria, 87, blikt terug op decennia van het voltooien van de 7 summits en de 8000ers. Klimmer uit Nevada, 90 jaar, is de oudste bekende persoon op de top van de Kilimanjaro. Plus nog 13 verhalen uit de bergen, de wetenschap en de film.
Rescue teams at Himlung Himal have recovered 11 of 16 people buried in last week's avalanche, with the search continuing as conditions allow. Elsewhere, 87-year-old Carlos Soria looked back on a mountaineering life that spans Elbrus in 1968 to Manaslu in 2025, Jim Scott became the oldest known climber of Kilimanjaro at 90, and Ligia Madrigal pressed on with her 7 summits bid ahead of an October attempt on Carstensz Pyramid.
On the mountains
Himlung avalanche recovery reaches 11 bodies as search continues
An avalanche hit Himlung Himal Base Camp in Manang on 27 September during heavy snow and rain, burying kitchen staff and climbing guides under what rescuers estimated as 14 feet of debris. The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association reported 16 people missing, later confirmed as two climbing guides and 14 kitchen staff. By 1 October, volunteer IFMGA-certified rescue teams, including guides from Imagine Nepal and Himalayan Holidays Nepal, had recovered 11 bodies. Operations were paused at times for safety as conditions shifted, with the NNMGA saying it would keep searching for the rest "as weather and safety conditions permit." The association thanked helicopter operators and local police for their support during the search.
Source: thehimalayantimes.com · also reported by thehimalayantimes.com, thehimalayantimes.com
Carlos Soria, 87, reflects on decades completing the 7 summits and 8000ers
Spanish climber Carlos Soria, now 87, began mountaineering at 14 in Spain's Sierra de Guadarrama. He climbed Elbrus in 1968, Denali in 1971 and Aconcagua in 1986, then reached Everest in 2001 at age 62. He completed the 7 summits challenge on 23 January 2010 on Kilimanjaro, days before turning 71. Soria went on to climb several 8000m26,247 ft peaks after age 60, including K2, Makalu, Kangchenjunga and Annapurna, and returned to Manaslu in 2025 at age 86, becoming the oldest person to summit an 8000m26,247 ft peak.
Source: Viajar (in Spanish)
Nevada climber, 90, becomes oldest known to summit Kilimanjaro
Jim Scott of Genoa, Nevada reached the summit of Kilimanjaro on 28 August 2026 at age 90 years and six months, making him the oldest known person on record to climb Africa's highest peak. He briefly succeeded Dr. Art Ulene, who had climbed the mountain on his 90th birthday just weeks earlier, on 13 July. It was Scott's second Kilimanjaro climb; he first summited in 1981. Scott has climbed 669 mountains in his life, including Aconcagua in the Andes, and says he intends to keep climbing.
Source: Reno Gazette Journal
Costa Rican climber Ligia Madrigal pursues 7 summits after Everest
Ligia Madrigal, the first Costa Rican woman to summit Everest, is continuing an attempt at the 7 summits. She has already climbed Everest, Aconcagua and Elbrus, and plans to attempt Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia this October. Her team says Denali is planned for June 2027, Kilimanjaro for October-November 2027, and Vinson for January 2028. If completed, organisers say she would become the first Central American woman and first Costa Rican to finish the challenge. Madrigal has said completing the project carries personal weight following her mother's death in March, and her team is seeking sponsors to help cover expedition costs.
Source: Delfino.cr (in Spanish) · also reported by El Observador CR, Diario Extra
Kilian Jornet recalls memory loss during 2017 double Everest climb
Kilian Jornet has described losing his short-term memory at over 8,000 metres during his 2017 double ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen, a feat completed within one week. Speaking on Jan Frodeno's podcast Going Mental, he said he had gone roughly 30 hours without food and his body stopped prioritising memory to conserve energy. Jornet linked the episode to findings on hypoxia and memory encoding from a 2017 US military study. Now 38, he says his neuromuscular recovery has changed with age even as his metabolic fitness keeps improving, and he described injuries as the result of combined physical, metabolic and cognitive stress rather than mileage alone.
Source: Clarin.com (in Spanish)
Concerns grow over welfare of explorer Ranulph Fiennes
A friend of Sir Ranulph Fiennes says the 82-year-old explorer wrote a will the night before an unsuccessful Everest attempt, around a planned divorce from his wife, Louise Millington-Cotes. Watch entrepreneur Michael Kobold told the Daily Mail that Fiennes, who has Parkinson's disease, felt "trapped" at the time. Fiennes has not been seen publicly for two years and is reported to have been moved between care homes in Wales and Cheshire under an assumed name. Cheshire Police say there are no immediate safeguarding concerns, while friends including Bear Grylls, Ben Fogle, Joanna Lumley and Monty Don have called for an investigation into his wellbeing.
Source: Yahoo News UK · also reported by AOL.com
Iranian climber Parvaneh Kazemi speaks on Everest and Lhotse climbs
Iranian alpinist Parvaneh Kazemi, the first woman to reach the summits of both Everest and Lhotse in the same season, spoke this week at the Set de Cim festival in Gandia, Spain. In an interview with Cadena SER, Kazemi said her hardest climb was not either mountain but facing a society that doubted a woman could do it, and that she did it alone. She described moments of self-doubt at altitude, saying she questioned why she was there but continued anyway. The event ran across three sessions at the Teatre Serano in Gandia, bringing together figures from mountaineering, climbing and expedition filmmaking.
Source: Cadena SER (in Spanish) · also reported by Cadena SER
Russian teams attempt rare autumn Everest and Jannu expeditions
With Manaslu's autumn season abandoned after heavy snow, two small Russian teams are heading for lonely 8,000m26,247 ft objectives instead. Andrei Vasiliev, Sergey Kondrashkin, Vitaly Shipilov and Natalya Belyankina have a permit for Everest (8,848m29,029 ft) off the normal South Col route, planning a no-oxygen scouting trip ahead of a fuller attempt next spring. A separate six-member Russian team led by Sergey Romanenkov is heading for Jannu (7,710m25,295 ft) in the Kangchenjunga region, hoping to link new routes via Langchung Khang and Langpo Peak before joining the 1962 first-ascent line. Elsewhere, Dhaulagiri climbers are waiting out avalanche danger, and Manaslu permits reportedly reached a record 500 before the season was called off.
Source: Explorersweb » · also reported by Explorersweb », The Tourism Times
Himalayan Database data shows Everest traffic near record highs
New figures from the Himalayan Database, reported by Naked Science, show 2025 as one of the busiest years on Everest in three decades of records. The database counted 1,519 people on the mountain in 2025, including 585 climbers and 934 workers, versus 395 people in 1995. Of those present in 2025, 878 reached the summit. Climbing is now almost entirely confined to spring, a shift from the 1980s when autumn and even winter summits occurred. The report also notes Nepal raised its spring Everest permit fee from $11,000 to $15,000, effective September 2025, and that support staff now make up over 60% of people on the mountain.
Source: Naked Science (in Russian) · also reported by 2 other outlets
Pskov paraglider pilot reaches 6,168 metres over Mount Elbrus
Paraglider pilot Roman Ager from Pskov flew to an altitude of 6,168 metres over Mount Elbrus, Russia's and Europe's highest peak, in a flight lasting more than two hours. Ager, a two-time Russian champion with 15 years of flying experience, said no motor paraglider had reached that height over the mountain in Russia before. He described the conditions as extremely difficult to forecast, with aerological and weather patterns changing fast in the mountains. The flight followed earlier failed attempts and years of preparation, including a self-built device to manage engine performance at altitude. Ager said he has not filed for an official record, noting a Novosibirsk pilot previously set a recognised mark of 5,700 metres over Elbrus.
Source: ПРОВИНЦИЯ.РУ (in Russian) · also reported by Про Город Киров, Vluki.ru
Science and nature
Wrexham University opens altitude lab simulating 5,000m16,404 ft conditions
Wrexham University has opened an Altitude Laboratory that uses normobaric hypoxia to simulate altitudes of up to 5,093 metres, with temperature control between 14°C and 32°C. The facility includes a VO2max Metalyzer for respiratory testing and is aimed at students, researchers and athletes, with consultancy services also offered to mountaineers preparing for high-altitude trips. Former Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson, a former university chancellor, said altitude chambers like this one are now far more accessible than during his own athletics career, when training required travelling long distances. The university says future research will look at heat acclimatization and hydration strategies.
Source: wrexham.com
Study finds plasma volume, not just new blood cells, raises altitude hemoglobin
A study of 281 adults living at six altitudes in the Colombian Andes, published in Physiological Reports, finds that blood plasma contraction contributes roughly as much to rising hemoglobin concentration as new red cell production does. Plasma volume was already reduced at 1730 metres, about 450 metres below the altitude at which hemoglobin mass itself began to rise significantly (2180 metres, firmly established by 2600 metres). None of the participants were endurance athletes. The authors say current anemia thresholds, which adjust for altitude, do not account for this plasma effect, and suggest residents of cities around 2600 metres could be misclassified. For climbers acclimatizing at altitude, the finding adds detail to how blood readings should be interpreted but does not change existing acclimatization guidance.
Source: Bioengineer.org
Books, film and gear
Documentary revisits deadly 2021 winter ascent of K2
A new Apple TV documentary, The Last First: Winter K2, directed by Amir Bar-Lev, examines the winter 2020-2021 season on K2, when competing teams raced to complete the first winter ascent of the mountain. The Nepali team led by Nirmal "Nims" Purja succeeded, while five climbers from various expeditions died during the season, including Ali Sadpara. Reviewers note the film does not assign blame but shows how national pride, commercial pressure and clashing personalities added danger to an already extreme environment. The film carries added weight since Purja was killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak this year, before the documentary's wider release. It opened in theatres and on Apple TV on 2 October.
Source: The Guardian · also reported by Climbing Magazine, TheWrap
Barcelona VR experience recreates 1953 Everest ascent
Eclipso has opened "Everest: La Primera Ascensión", a virtual reality experience at the Arenas de Barcelona centre that lets visitors retrace the 1953 Everest expedition led by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Participants wear VR headsets and walk freely through a staged space for about 45 minutes, moving from the streets of Kathmandu into Himalayan terrain with glaciers and ice falls. The piece also covers sherpa culture and the wider expedition team, not just the summit day of 29 May 1953. Tickets cost 25 euros, with group and other discounts available, and the minimum age is 8. Sessions are currently listed for October, November and December 2026, with no end date yet announced.
Source: irBarcelona (in Spanish) · also reported by El Periódico, Forbes España
Rare mountaineering book collection goes to market via Peter Harrington
A collection of 118 rare books, photographs and pieces of ephemera, spanning more than 170 years of mountaineering history, has come to market through Peter Harrington Rare Books. It was assembled over decades by a collector and her husband, tracing mountaineering from Victorian Alpine exploration to 20th century Himalayan expeditions. Highlights include material on George Mallory and Andrew Irvine's 1924 Everest expedition, Hans Meyer's first ascent of Kilimanjaro, and pioneering women climbers Audrey Le Blond and Fanny Bullock Workman. Dr Matthew Wills of Peter Harrington said the collection was built "around stories and people rather than" a simple list of titles, emphasising first editions, signed copies and expedition narratives.
Source: gripped.com · also reported by Gripped Climbing Magazine
Jimmy Chin's new book profiles Yvon Chouinard and other mentors
Two outlets published pieces this week tied to Jimmy Chin's book Rules to Live By, which collects interviews with figures including Yvon Chouinard, Alex Honnold and Lynsey Addario. Outside Magazine's piece traces Chouinard's climbing history, including his shift from hammered pitons to aluminium chocks in Yosemite and the 1972 catalog essay credited with launching "clean climbing." It also references Chouinard's 1968 road trip to Patagonia with Doug Tompkins, documented in the film Mountain of Storms, which included a first ascent of Fitz Roy. Alpinist Magazine's piece is a personal review of Chin's book rather than a news report, describing its chapters on mentors and themes of risk and purpose. No new records, dates or figures beyond those already published are given.
Source: Outside Magazine · also reported by Alpinist Magazine
Alle delen van This week on the 7 summits
- Deel 1: Deze week op de 7 summits: 14–20 september 2026
- Deel 2: Deze week op de 7 summits: 21–27 september 2026
- Deel 3: Deze week op de 7 summits: 28 september – 4 oktober 2026 (je leest dit)
- Deel 4: This week on the 7 summits: 5–11 October 2026
- Deel 5: Deze week op 7 summits: 12–18 oktober 2026