First winter ascent of Shisha Pangma (8.027 m) by Simone Moro and Piotr Morawski.

At 1.15 p.m. (Tibet time), on January 14, 2005, Simone Moro and his Polish friend Piotr Morawsky reach the summit of Shisha Pangma, 8.027 meters. It is the first winter ascent of the fourteenth summit of the planet, and also the eighth 8000-meter peak climbed in the coldest season of the planet.
The remarkable performance, unfortunately, has been veiled by a polemic, consequence of a claim made by Jean-Christophe Lafaille. The famous French alpinist, in fact, about a month before, on December 11, 2004, after having reached solo the same summit, not satisfied by the solo ascent of the Shisha Pangma, hadn’t hesitated to define his ascent also “first winter ascent”, founding his statement on the fact that “the official winter season in Himalaya starts on December 1 and ends on February 15.”
The statement of the French has later been object of criticism. Finally, on January 20, 2005, CTMA (China-Tibetan Mountaineering Association) has certified “First winter summit” the ascent of Moro and Morawski on Shisha Pangma, definitely clearing every doubt on the argument.
Here follows a precise reconstruction of the facts, thanks to the collaboration with ALP Grandi Montagne and the work of Claudio Caccia.
Oscar Durbiano

First winter summit
We dial the number of the satellite phone, wait a few seconds and after the first ring we already feel a little emotion. A few more seconds, a short wait and from the other side of the world comes the voice of Simone Moro, who only four days ago, with Polish Piotr Morawsky, was on the summit of Shisha Pangma. We are the first ones to speak with him after the success, to collect his thoughts and his emotions after his stubbornness has allowed him to realize a dream: the historical first winter ascent of an 8.000-meter peak. And we barely make questions, we let Simone give freely vent to his emotions.
“I am at base camp, it’s good that you called. Because tomorrow we will pack our luggage and the satellite phone will finish in the bulk…. In short: winter ascents aren’t in any more, both in the Alps and in the Himalaya. Therefore who manages to make such an exploit can’t go unnoticed: just think about Marco Anghileri on the Solleder in Civetta, in January, and even alone. On the huge Asian mountains the cold season is another world… the last first winter ascent of an 8.000-meter peak dates back to December 31, 1988, when Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit of Lhotse. It must be noticed that also the other first ascent, to tell the truth, had been monopoly of the Polish…”
The satisfaction is big and, been talkative like always, Simone can’t help himself but speak about his feats: “I believe that I have realized something important, very significant: I fought hard, trying and trying again, and at the end I succeeded. And it was a success also for Italian mountaineering, because the first winter ascent of an 8.000-meter peak was a missing piece: now finally the mosaic is complete.”
The success of Simone Moro – from Bergamo, born in 1967, among the few active mountaineers known also to the big public – hasn’t arrived at the first try. Last year, precisely on January 17, Shisha Pangma had brutally stopped him at the elevation of 7.700 meters, 300 meters from the summit, after having let him climb integrally the hard south face along the route Corredor Girona. “I was feeling well, as never before on a 8000-meter peak – Simone told us after coming back to Italy -. But in the afternoon, at about 5.30 p.m., I decided to renounce. We could have risked a bivy, but it was 52° below zero and for Piotr, who had already had some amputations, it would have been too dangerous”. But the return match was already in the air, especially after the nice success on Baruntse North (7066 m, the top has been reached on May 4, 2004). On December 24, 2004 Simone and company – the same of the previous attempt, that means, beside Morawski, his country-fellows Jacek Jawien, Darek Zaluski and Jas Szulc –set base camp near “their” mountain.
The real action, without artificial oxygen and high elevation porters, started on December 27, with the setting of the advanced base camp and from there, the following day, Simone and Piotr climbed the Route Jugoslava on the right side of the wall, getting over the big serac and reaching the elevation of 6.300 meters. The following of the adventure was exciting, and neither the gusty winds, nor the polar temperature could stop it: December 30, Camp 1 – the only one in the wall – at 6.550 meters, from December 31 to January 3, “sojourn” at base camp due to bad weather, with winds up to 150 kilometers per hour; January 4, start again, with breakfast at minus 30°; January 7, elevation 7.200; with almost record temperature (minus 40°) and then as Simone writes in his website, “wind, wind and wind again”, January 12, new “round” to reach Camp 1; January 13, elevation 7.416, a scream from Simone: “We are out of the wall!” and then like planned, night at Camp 2 with a thought: “The summit is 600 meters above us and tomorrow morning we will try it…”. Last act, Friday, January 14, 2005: Summit, summit, summit! At 1.15 p.m. Piotr and I were at 8.027 meters: to be the first men to step on the summit of Shisha Pangma in winter made me really happy…”

It feels like a dream
“In the winter everything is much harder”, says Simone Moro, “also the easiest one of the 8000-meter peaks. Every ascent becomes a terrible test of endurance. At base camp you are alone, without the slightest comfort… the snow is chest-high, you work hard like an animal and as soon as you stop you risk frostbite. I believe that winter mountaineering in Himalaya is beyond any other form of alpinism, even the great traverses and the new ascents. It is the maximum: also regarding the style. Who attempts a winter ascent, usually, has a rigorous mountaineering ethic. In the winter the Himalaya has something magic: the light is less aggressive, more delicate, to the point that almost all colors are cancelled. Only blue and white remain, wherever you look. It seems to live in a dream…”

First winter ascents on 8.000-meter peaks, an all-Polish game
Beside the Shisha Pangma (8027 m), climbed on January 14, 2005 by Simone Moro and Piotr Morawski, seven other 8.000-meter peaks have been climbed at least once in the coldest season. Everest (8848 m), on 19 February 1980 by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Chichy; Manaslu (8163 m), on 12 January 1984 by Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski; Dhaulagiri (8167 m), on 21 January 1985 by Jerzy Kukuczka and Andrzej Czok; Cho Oyu (8202 m), on 12 February 1985, by Berbeka again with Maciej Pawlikowski; Kangchenjunga (8586 m), on 11 January 1986 by the strong team Kukuczka-Wielicki; Annapurna (8091 m), on 3 February 1987, by Kukuckza and Arthur Ajzer and finally Lhotse (8516 m), Krzysztof Wielicki solo on 31 December 1988. An all-Polish game, in short, an epic of the magic Eighties of the last century, to which Simone Moro, the only “stranger” in the clan of people from the eastern countries, wanted to add a new important chapter at any price.

Lafaille, was it a true winter ascent? Wielicki says no
On December 11, 2004 Jean-Christoph Lafaille, all alone, reached the summit of Shisha Pangma, after having climbed the south face along a partially new itinerary that joined the 1982 British route at 7.000 meters. Where is the problem, then? In the words of the French ace, who, back down, didn’t hesitated to call his climb “first winter ascent”, starting one of those controversial cases that give to the alpine (or Himalayan) adventure that unmistakable touch. The French alpinist stated that “la saison officielle de l’hiver en Himalaya commence le 1er décembre et se termine le 15 février”, while the rival from Bergamo answered that “the winter” was “late autumn”. The referee of the controversial was a star of the world’s mountaineering, Krysztof Wielicki, three first winter ascents of 8.000-meter peaks. He officially expressed his opinion giving right to Simone and on January 20, 2005 the CTMA (China-Tibetan Mountaineering Association) has certified “First winter summit” the ascent of Moro and Morawski on Shisha Pangma.
Carlo Caccia