Nicholas Rice: Home

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Last Updated 11-20-2009

Nicholas Rice

Satellite Phone: +88216 212 75615
E-mail: nickrice16@hotmail.com

Text Box: 2008 K2 South-Southeast Spur Expedition Nicholas Rice cancelled his 2008 Spring Everest North Face summit bid due to injuries sustained in Morocco on training climbs and instead planned an expedition to attempt Broad Peak and K2 in Pakistan in the summer of 2008. After realizing that the conditions were too dangerous on Broad Peak, Nick focused on K2, the second highest mountain in the world standing at 8,611 meters or 28,251 feet. K2 is the highest of the five 8000 meter peaks in Pakistan and thought to be one of the most dangerous mountains of the fourteen 8000 meter peaks with a fatality rate of 27.77%. Fewer than 300 climbers have reached the summit of K2 and of those 53 have died. Nick attempted K2 by the South-Southeast Spur Route. This was Nick’s fourth consecutive expedition in Pakistan. He turned back from his summit bid at 8,200 meters due to impending frostbite and dangerous conditions in the bottleneck that resulted in the deaths of 11 other climbers.

Text Box: Success In Pakistan: The Gasherbrum II 50th Anniversary Solo Expedition was a success. Nicholas Rice summitted on July 25th, 2006 at 4:30pm with no High Altitude Porter support and no oxygen. This was his second expedition to Pakistan and his second 8000 meter summit. Nick attempted Gasherbrum I and II in 2005, however the unseasonably bad weather coupled with hazardous avalanche conditions thwarted this attempt. Nick intends to return to Pakistan in 2007 to attempt Broad Peak (8051 meters), again without oxygen or high altitude porters and with logistics provided by Adventure Tours Pakistan (ATP). Check out the photography section of this website for pictures of the 2006 GII Expedition. Nick is also participating in a smaller expedition to Aconcagua in Argentina in February of 2007. Gasherbrum II Dispatches from everestnews.com

Nicholas Rice working through an awkward section of the ice fall enroute to Camp I. Photo Courtesy Mike Farris.

Broad Peak 2007 Update:

Nicholas Rice has returned safely to Skardu after a very challenging expedition on Broad Peak. Nick turned back from the col at 7,800 meters (the start of the 1.5km summit ridge) due to high winds, impending bad weather, and injuries sustained earlier in the expedition. During the expedition, Nicholas was struck by rock fall, battled the effects of Cerebral Edema, and struggled up overcrowded, poorly placed fixed lines. The mountain was made more hazardous by the huge number of expeditions present for the golden jubilee fiftieth anniversary of the first ascent. He plans to recover at home during August and then fly over to Nepal to attempt Shishapangma (ranked 14th in the world). Also, he intends to return to Broad Peak in 2008 to attempt the mountain once again (hopefully with fewer expeditions present). Nick posted live dispatches daily on his website and these can be found in the Expedition Dispatches section or this website of by clicking here. Also check out the new Photo Album.

Text Box: 2008 K2 South-Southeast Spur Expedition Live Daily Dispatches Nicholas Rice has returned home from his 2008 K2 Expedition. Nick posted live daily dispatches via satellite phone from Base Camp while climbing the mountain. These can be found in the Expedition Dispatches section of the website or by clicking here.

Text Box: 2010 K2 Memorial Expedition Added Nicholas Rice has tentative plans to return to K2 in the summer of 2010 for another attempt on the savage mountain. He will be attempting the mountain using the South-Southeast Spur (or Spanish) route on the south face of the mountain. K2 is the second highest mountain in the world and is said to be one of the most difficult. It claims a staggering 28% of all summiteers’ lives on descent and in 2008, claimed the lives of eleven, two of whom were part of Nick’s expedition. This will be Nick’s eighth 8000 meter expedition and his second expedition on K2. In 2008 Nicholas Rice was a member of the French K2 Expedition and attempted K2 using the South-Southeast Spur Route on the Pakistani Side. Nick turned back at 8,200 meters due to unsafe conditions at the bottleneck, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of 11 climbers (see 2008 K2 dispatches).

Success on Kilimanjaro & Mt. Kenya

Nick Rice has returned from a successful expedition with Catalina Quesada Castro in Kenya and Tanzania this past December. The pair climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and is also the tallest freestanding mountain in the world rising 15,100 feet from its base to its 19,340 foot summit. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest mountain in Africa at a height of 17,058 feet. It is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator. Far from being a just single peak Mount Kenya is in fact a massif consisting of a multitude of imposing spires, cliffs, complex ridges and peaks. The two climbed Mount Kenya via the Sirimon Route (ascent) and Naro Moru Route (descent) and climbed Kilimanjaro by the Marangu Route. This was Nick’s second of the seven summits. Album coming soon.

2008 Everest Expedition Postponed

Nicholas Rice has postponed his planned expedition to the north face of Everest to 2011 due to injuries sustained on a conditioning climb in Morocco in the winter of 2007. Nick instead attempted K2 in Pakistan in the summer of 2008, the second highest mountain in the world. He turned back at 8.200 meters For information on the Everest Expedition click here.

“Disaster on K2” Documentary

When enormous ice walls collapse, seven climbers are trapped near the summit of the most dangerous mountain on earth: K2. With footage and interviews with the few who lived to tell the story, Discovery Channel follows this tale of heroism, survival, and heartbreak. Check out Nick in this documentary at 10pm on March 25th, 2009 on The Discovery Channel. More Information

Text Box: Manaslu Summit Reached May 19th, 2009 Nicholas Rice has returned from a successful expedition on Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. He reached the summit of Manaslu at 11:30am on May 19th, 2009 without Sherpa support or the use of supplemental oxygen. Manaslu is located in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas. The word Manaslu is derived from the Sanskrit word Manasa and is translated as "Mountain of the Spirit". Manaslu is the highest peak in the Gorkha district and is located about forty miles east of Annapurna, the tenth highest mountain. The mountain's long ridges and valley glaciers offer feasible approaches from all directions, and culminate in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape, and is a dominant feature when viewed from afar. This was Nick’s seventh eight-thousand meter expedition. Read Nick’s daily dispatches by clicking here.

Text Box: 2009 Shishapangma Expedition Live Daily Dispatches Follow along on Nick’s 2009 Shishapangma Expedition in Tibet via live expedition dispatches posted daily via satellite phone. These can be found in the expedition dispatches section of this website or by clicking here.

Text Box: Shishapangma North Summit Reached Nicholas Rice reached Shishapangma’s North Summit (8008 meters) at 12:30pm on September 27th, 2009. The team attempted to access the higher Main Summit (8027 meters) but the ridge was too corniced and prone to slab avalanches. Mario Panzeri and Nick Rice will rest in base camp for a week, then, weather allowing, head back up to attempt to gain access to the Main Summit via the Iñaki route. Although slightly lower, the vast majority of expeditions on the north face of Shishapangma aim to climb only to the Central Summit, as accessing the main summit from this face exposes climbers to extreme risk from avalanche prone slopes loaded by high winds or corniced ridges that could collapse spontaneously upon being weighted. This is Nick’s ninth 8000 meter expedition and his third expedition in Tibet. Nick is posting daily dispatches daily from base camp. Check them out at www.nickrice.us/shisha or by clicking here.

Text Box: 2009 Solo Manaslu Expedition Daily Dispatches Check out Nick’s daily dispatches from his successful solo expedition on Manaslu in the Spring of 2009. The dispatches were posted live from base camp via satellite phone daily. These can be found in the Expedition Dispatches section of the website or just click here.

Text Box: Expedition Photo Galleries Added Nicholas Rice has published photo galleries from his recent expeditions on Manaslu, Shishapangma and K2 in the photography section of this website. Check them out by clicking here or clicking “Photography” in the left navigation bar.

Text Box: 2010 Annapurna I Expedition Complete After being struck with serac ice and sustaining serious head trauma enroute to Camp III, Nick was forced to abandon his summit push on Annapurna and head home. Nick posted dispatches daily from base camp, which can be found in the expedition dispatches section of this website or by clicking on the link above. Annapurna I is the tenth highest mountain in the world, at an elevation of 8,091 meters or 26,545 feet. Annapurna is the least climbed of the 8000m peaks and has a fierce reputation, second only to K2 in terms of the ratio of summiteers dying on descent to the successful climbs. It is also the 8000’er with the highest ratio of deaths to successful ascents: for every two climbers who reach the summit, one dies. Unfortunately, the spring season of 2010 added one more name to the list of elite climbers lost on Annapurna’s slopes. Tolo Calafat (Spain) perished while descending from the summit. DISPATCHES