Blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer has climbed the 700-meter frozen waterfall Losar (VI WI5) in Nepal. Weihenmayer, who summited Mt. Everest in 2001, completed Losar with Ian Osteyee from New York and Rob Raker from Colorado. The trio took two days to climb and rappel the 14-pitch route, which Weihenmayer described as “Polar Circus on steroids.” 

Losar is located on a shady hillside near Namche Bazaar in the Khumbu region. It was likely first climbed in 1994 by Erik Decamp and Catherine Destivelle. 

Before completing the route, the trio acclimatized by making the possible first ascent of a three-pitch ice route a day’s walk from Namche. Weihenmayer named the climb Arjun’s Playground after the 5-year-old Nepali boy, Arjun, that he and his wife, Ellie, have just adopted. 

Weihenmayer is currently promoting a new film, Blindsight, about his attempt on the 23,000-foot Lhakpa Ri with six blind Tibetan teenagers. To learn more about the film, which opens in select theaters this month, visit Blindsightthemoive.com. 

Date of Ascent: January 2008 

Sources: Erik Weihenmayer, Rob Raker, Touchthetop.com, NEice.com

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