Text Box: Xpedition 8000

Current and Upcoming Expeditions

Expedition DIspatches

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Text Box: 2007 Broad Peak Expedition *EXPEDITION COMPLETE* In June, 2007 Nicholas Rice led an expedition on Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world at a height of 8047 meters or 26,300 feet. Broad Peak is located in the Karakorum Range in Northern Pakistan on the border of Tibet. It is named for it’s 1.5 km long summit ridge and is composed of three summits. The team was partially successful putting four members on the summit, however, Nicholas Rice turned back at the col (the start of the summit ridge) due to high winds and impending bad weather. The team was climbing via the normal route. Nicholas intends to return in 2008 to make another attempt. Text Box: 2007 Xixabangma Expedition *EXPEDITION COMPLETE* In 2007, Nicholas Rice led an expedition on Xixabangma. After establishing high camps, Nick waited in base camp for a weather window that never came to attempt the summit. Nick and all other climbers this season were forced to abandon the expedition after huge storms dumped meters of snow on the mountain, making for extremely dangerous avalanche conditions. Xixabangma (also referred to as Shishapangma) is the 14th highest mountain in the world and is located in Tibet. It is the only 8000 meter peak located entirely in Tibet. The word Xixabangma means “crest above the grassy plains” and accurately describes the mountain’s prominence above the Tibetan plateau. It is the highest peak in the Jugal Himal range, a sub-range of the Langtang Himal. The standard route is relatively easy and the base camp can be reached by Jeep. Text Box: 2008 K2 South-Southeast Spur Expedition *EXPEDITION COMPLETE* 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. Dispatches Text Box: 2009 Manaslu Solo Expedition *EXPEDITION COMPLETE* SUMMIT! Nicholas Rice reached the summit of Manaslu at 11:30am on May 19th, 2009 without Sherpa support or supplemental oxygen after nearly two months in base camp waiting for a weather window. Manaslu (मनास्लु) is the eighth highest mountain in the world, 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. Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a Japanese expedition. Nick will be attempting the mountain solo by the Japanese Route without Oxygen or Sherpa Support. Click here for dispatches. Photo Section coming soon! Text Box: 2009 Shishapangma Expedition *NORTH SUMMIT* After a successful expedition on Manaslu in the Spring of 2009 (8th highest mountain in the world), Nicholas Rice has teamed up with Mario Panzeri (Italy) for his second attempt on Shishapangma in the Fall of 2009. Shishapangma is the 14th highest mountain in the world and is located in Tibet. It is the only 8000 meter peak located entirely in Tibet. The name Shishapangma means “crest above the grassy plains” and accurately describes the mountains’ prominence above the Tibetan plateau. It is the highest peak in the Jugal Himal range, a sub-range of the Langtang Himal. The team will attempt the mountain by the Iňaki variation on the normal route on the north face. In 2007, sustained bad weather coupled with dangerous avalanche conditions forced Nick off the mountain. No one summitted that season. Dispatches will be posted daily. Click Here Text Box: 2010 Annapurna Expedition *SPRING, 2010* Nicholas Rice is preparing for his expedition to Annapurna I (अन्नपूर्णा) for the Spring of 2010. Annapurna is the tenth highest mountain in the world, at an elevation of 8,091 meters or 26,545 ft. It is located east of the great gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River, which separates it from the Dhaulagiri massif, which lies 34 km west of Annapurna I. 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. These statistics explain why there has been no genuinely commercial expedition to the peak so far: the avalanche-prone north face and the difficult south and north-west faces are likely to ensure that there will be no change to this in the coming years; the first 8000’er to have been climbed remaining an elusive, committing summit. Dispatches