Romanian alpinist Alex Gavan is back in the Himalayas as he wants to climb the Annapurna I peak (8,091 m) in Nepal. The climbing is to be done without supplemental oxygen.

Although Annapurna is only the tenth highest mountain in the world, it is considered the most dangerous. By the 90s, the fatality rate on this mountain was of 66%. Between June 3, 1950 (when Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal climbed the mountain, being the first to go up on Annapurna I) and the fall of 2013, 211 alpinists climbed the peak and 69 of them died during the expedition.

“There is no reasonably safe route to the Annapurna peak, the danger of avalanches or serac falls being always present,” Alex Gavan told local Mediafax.

The expedition started on February 26 and will take about 60 days. The final ascent to the peak is to take place around April 15, after the acclimatization period.

This is the first high altitude expedition the Romanian climber organizes after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, in April 2015, which caught him at the base camp on Lhotse / Everest. Gavan has been involven in fundraising in Romania to help Nepal after the earthquake.

Alex Gavan, 33, has climbed six peaks over 8,000 meters, without supplemental oxygen: Broad Peak – 8,047 m (2014, the second Romanian ascent), Shishapangma – 8,027 m (2013, the first Romanian ascent), Manaslu – 8,156 m (2011, the second Romanian ascent), Makalu – 8,463 m (2008, the first Romanian ascent), Gasherbrum 1 – 8,068 m (2007, the first Romanian ascent), and Cho Oyu – 8,201 m (2006, the second Romanian ascent).

There are 14 peaks over 8,000 m in the world, ranging from 8,027 m (Sishapangma) and 8,850 (Everest). All the peaks are located in Central Asia.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Alexgavan.ro, Photo by: Karim Hayat)