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Horia Colibășanu, the Romanian mountaineer who has climbed eight of the highest peaks in the world, is leaving today for his next Himalayan expedition at over 8,000 meters, taking on the challenge of opening a new route to the Dhaulagiri peak (8,167 m), ranked in the Top 5 most perilous mountains. In the days to come, the Timișoara-based athlete will start acclimatizing in the Annapurna area, then start trekking towards the Dhaulagiri base camp on April 10^th.

This year, Colibășanu is teaming up with Marius Gane (51), Romanian professional sportsman and high altitude climber, as well as Peter Hámor (53), the Slovakian climber who has summited all 14 8,000ers in the Himalayas. The three athletes will perform a climb without supplemental oxygen, as well as without Sherpa assistance.
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The Timişoara-based sportsman is presently at Base Camp at 5,400 meters altitude, awaiting a 5-day good weather forecast, a condition essential for the successful accomplishment of this spring’s project.

During the last weeks, he has repeatedly climbed the route up to 7,000 meters altitude, and together with his partner Peter Hámor (53) has equipped it adequately, so that on final ascent they will need to carry as little gear as possible.

“The last weeks have been pretty difficult. We’ve put an enourmous amount of work into equipping the route. We’ve fixed over 350 meters of rope to secure ourselves on the ice covered slopes, we’ve carried up a lot of gear. We are at Base Camp now and may descend to 4,500 meters, to rest while awaiting the favourable weather window. We need about 5 days of good weather to start out”, conveyed Horia Colibăşanu.

Colibăşanu has also added that the final ascent will take place no later than May 25^th, when the spring climbing season in the Himalayas comes to an end, this being a stretch of favourable weather for expeditions carried out at over 8,000 meters altitude.

“It is important to us that we are well, our state of health is good, acclimatization has been good, recovery following effort is OK, all we need now is for the weather to be on our side, as well. Our eyes are on the sun, wind, and forecasts. This is all we talk about”, said Horia.

Horia Colibăşanu left for this expedition on March 28^th 2018, and will be returning to Romania on June 3^rd.

For 2018, Horia Colibăşanu’s has set out to accomplish a special project in the Himalayas, at an altitude over 8,000 meters.

This year marks Colibășanu’s 20^th international expedition and also his 15^th 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).

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.

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