Horia Colibășanu, the Romanian mountaineer who has summited eight of the 14 8,000ers in the Himalayas, thinks that this year’s expedition, meant to open a new route to the summit of Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), is the most challenging so far, even exceeding in difficulty the 2004 expedition to the peak of K2 (8,611 m).
The expedition team has set out to perform an ascent on the north-west ridge, accessible by overcoming a chimney with a very technical ice wall, where they will need to install safety equipment. Starting out from the Japanese basecamp, Horia and his expedition mates have done several ascents, in order to equip this stretch of the route.
We have ahead of us a highly technical route, an ice wall of approx. 600 meters. We had no choice but to install equipment on this part of the route, in order to climb to over 5,400 m and take our gear over to the intermediary camps. We’ve had an extremely challenging schedule: one day we would prep the route, the other we would stay at basecamp and rest. The effort to anchor so many hundreds of meters of rope has been huge. Snowfalls have been a nuisance, compelling us to work on clearing the snow away. And it is only now that the tough part really begins, because we are climbing an unknown route, while 
loaded with high altitude equipment. It is by far the toughest expedition of my life, tougher even than the expedition on K2, which was very technical and unpredictable. I think that our chance of making this a successful expedition depends on us being there for each other, said Horia.
According to the expedition plan, the three have about three weeks to go until the summiting window, which is when the weather will allow them to summit Dhaulagiri.
Horia, Marius and Peter will be opening a new route, on the north-west ridge of Mount Dhaulagiri, without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa assistance. Return home for the three athletes is planned for beginning of June 2019.
You can follow the expedition on www.horiacolibasanuhimalaya.ro , on the “Horia Colibășanu” Facebook page, as well as his twitter account.
2019 marks Colibășanu’s 21st international expedition, as well as his 16th in the Himalayas.
This expedition is a project of the Alternative Sports Club from Timișoara (Romania), affiliated to the Romanian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, which runs and monitors mountaineering projects included in the international sports calendar.
Horia Colibășanu is supported in this expedition by the following Gold Level Sponsors: Profi, FAN Courier, Comtim and Webasto.
The ascent’s Silver Level Sponsor is: AD Auto Total.
Bronse Level Sponsors are: Mewi, Poka, Recaş Vineyards, Timişoara City Hall and Timiș County Council.
Technical partners are: Mammut, La Sportiva and Cebe. Equipment partners are: SportGuru amd Sorins.
SPORTS CAREER
Horia Colibășanu is a professional sportsman and high altitude climber, already having under his belt successful summits on 8 of the 14 8,000ers in the world.
His successful expeditions in the Himalayas, as well as his principles of sports ethics regarding climbing without additional oxygen and without the assistance of Sherpas have made his fellow citizens greatly admire him and support him in his endeavors.
His sports results have also been appreciated by Romania’s President Mr. Klaus Iohannis, who in June 2017 granted Horia Colibășanu the highest distinction to be given by the President: “Romania’s Star” National Order, in rank of Knight.
Colibășanu’s most notable ascents have been accomplished on Annapurna, K2 and Dhaulagiri, three of the Top 5 deadliest mountains in the world according to The Economist (May 2013), quoting Eberhard Jurgalski, an authority in the field.
The peaks so far reached by Colibășanu are K2 (8,611m), Manaslu (8,163m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m), Shishapangma (8,027m), Annapurna (8,091m), Makalu (8,463m), Lhotse (8,516m), Everest (8,848m).
Horia has taken part in 19 international expeditions throughout his career (up to 2017), while teammate with climbers from various countries, such as Slovakia, Russia, Spain and Poland.
The tragically ended expedition of 2008 on Annapurna– when he lost his friend and rope mate, Iñaki Ochoa – was a turning point for Horia.
Elizabeth Hawley, the most thorough chronicler of Himalayan expeditions ever to have lived, recalled: “Horia put his own life in danger by staying [for 72 hours at over 7,400m altitude] with his sick teammate, Iñaki Ochoa, while he himself had become gravely ill because of the high altitude they were at.”
Horia sounded the alarm at base camp, and some of the best mountaineers in the world set out to save Iñaki. Annapurna 2008 was the most complex rescue operation in the history of the Himalayas.
Based on this true story, Arena Comunicación of Spain and Spanish TV Channel TVE produced the “Pura Vida/The Ridge” documentary, winner of the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The climbers who risked their lives for Iñaki, including Horia Colibășanu, have been awarded various distinctions:
- Nominees for the Prince of Asturias Awards (2008) – “for their sacrifice, generosity, team spirit and friendship”.
- “Spirit of Mountaineering”, part of the “Piolet d’Or” Festivity (2009)
- “Sports Merit” Gold medal, from the government of Navarre (2008). Few have received, in the course of time, the “Sports Merit” decoration, one of them being Miguel Indurain, winner of the Tour de France five consecutive years (1991-1995).
Horia Colibășanu is the only Romanian climber to receive the “Spirit of Mountaineering” commendation from the British Alpine Club, the first and most prestigious mountaineering club in the world.