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proach is more minimalistic. It is all about full commitment and the
willingness to stake everything on one card.” The willingness to meet
the pure mountain, which can be quite tough a lot of times; the will-
ingness to accept the weather conditions, which sometimes make the
ascent impossible; the willingness to deal with the climatic conditions,
which take alpinists to their limits... In the end, it is this willingness,
which makes the impossible possible.
“Of course, the preparations for a project take ages. All possible sce-
narios have to be considered. You think about what would happen if you
broke your foot at a particular point, or if you broke both of them, or if
your partner got injured. You think about every possible thing that could
happen to be extremely well prepared. A more realistic and less emo-
tional assessment of the situation gives you a clearer idea. The better
you prepare, the fewer unpleasant surprises you will have.”
In reality, however, the situation is often completely different and pre-
dictable only to a certain extent. Nevertheless, your plans will help you
to make the right decisions in critical situations. They will also help you
overcoming your fears – the biggest enemy of an alpinist. “Fear isn’t
something that suddenly appears. Panic, however, is an acute feeling,
which has to be avoided as far as possible. Because as soon as you start
panicking, you are far away from making rational decisions.”
The big goal
David Lama has planned two big projects for this year. A completely
unclimbed summit with challenging climbing conditions await Lama
at the 6907 metres high Lunag Ri in Nepal. A lot of times it is the un-
climbed summits that are less inviting to a climber. However, the Lunag
Ri is difficult from all perspectives. That is demonstrated by the fact
that all previous attempts have failed. Also the Tyrolean’s first approach
to scale the mountain over the north-west face wasn’t successful. 300
meters before reaching the summit he and his partner had to turn
around. David Lama and Conrad Anker have planned a second attempt
for this year. The expedition is challenging and doesn’t forgive any mis-
takes. On top of that, the cold provides distinctive climate conditions,
but at the same time it offers better safety. The warmer it gets, the less
surefootedness the snow allows. “We believe that we have learned a
lot about the mountain on our expedition last year – now our initial
situation has changed.”
His second project takes David Lama to the Annapurna III. With an al-
titude of 7500 meters, it is the third highest mountain of Annapurna. Al-
ready at the very beginning, climbers trying to conquer this summit are
faced with a lot of obstacles: “It is quite a challenge to even get to the
base camp,” explains Lama, who is planning to ascent via the southeast
face. The strategic preparations for such a project take a long time – “You
already have to think ahead for next year.” And all your thoughts revolve
around the one unclimbed Giant.
However, the Masherbrum is the most important to Lama, but he isn’t
ready yet. He conquers mountain after mountain, hoping that all his hard
work will finally lead him to the one. “All our ongoing projects are chal-
lenging and very difficult, but each of them is only a small dwarf com-
pared to our master project Masherbrum.” He doesn’t know yet, when he
can realize this project. Maybe in three years, maybe in seven. The degree
of willingness that this mountain requires - considering all the dangers
and challenges - is remarkably higher than in any other project. The An-
napurna III, which Lama considers as his missing piece for the Masher-
brum, was described as one of the biggest, unsolved “problems” by the
American Alpinist Magazine. David Lama is chasing the impossible. This
phenomena is not uncommon amongst alpinists.
“My projects don’t represent a physical impossibility for me. I would like
to verify my imagination. The opportunities are out there.” With every new
mountain the ascent changes. But all the climbs have something in com-
mon. They are risky, dangerous and adventurous and at the same time
incomparably beautiful and challenging. And in the end, when you reach
the summit, you are overwhelmed by this liberating feeling. Calmness and
pure satisfaction unfold, as the one goal has been achieved. The impos-
sible has become possible. The mountain has been conquered with the
powers of body and mind. What remains in the end? Ultimate happiness
– until it is time to conquer the next summit.
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