Gold Sponsors
The Timişoara-based sportsman has returned to Kathmandu and is getting ready to return to his home country, after deciding together with his partner Peter Hámor (53) not to go ahead with the final ascent, due to a very high risk of snow slab avalanches.
“It has been snowing a lot, resulting in a half a meter high layer of snow, then the sun shone fiercely. The outcome was an ice slab floating on powdery snow. When we walked on it, it would vibrate or crack. The risk of this slab breaking or starting an avalanche was very high. There is no way one can make it out alive from such an avalanche. This year we decided to abort, with heavy hearts for all the work we put into prepping the route, and all the enthusiasm we felt at the beginning”, Horia Colibăşanu said today, thus announcing that the particular project he had prepared for 2018 could not be carried out to the end.
Horia and Peter climbed this year to approx. 7,500 meters altitude and were awaiting good weather and snow conditions, to allow them to continue the ascent. They needed approx. 4 days free of storms, strong winds and snowfalls at high altitude, as well a stable layer of snow on which to advance.
This year’s special project entailed high altitude exposure (over 8,000 meters) on a difficult route, which would have taken them 4-5 days.
Horia Colibăşanu left for this expedition on March 28th 2018, and according to schedule was supposed to return to Romania at the beginning of June.
This year marks Colibășanu’s 20th international expedition and also his 15th in the Himalayas.
The 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 and Comtim.
The ascent project’s Silver Level Sponsor is: AD Auto Total.
Bronze Level Sponsors are: Mewi, Poka, Recaş Vineyards and the Timişoara City Hall.
Equipment partners are: Marmot, S75.ro, Sport Guru, Suunto, GoPro, Deltatel.
The expedition can be followed on www.horiacolibasanuhimalaya.ro , the ‘Horia Colibășanu’ Facebook page and the sportsman’s Twitter page.
SPORTS CAREER
Horia Colibășanu is considered the most accomplished mountaineer in the history of Romania, already having under his belt successful summits on 8 of the 14 eight-thousanders 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), and Everest (8,848m).