The 3 curses of the Himalayan snow

There’s no such thing as an easy Himalayan peak. I knew this already. For various reasons in the past I’ve failed to get up 6000, 7000 and 8000m peaks. Until now I’ve not made any attempts on 5000ers, but I expected the same principles to apply.

It’s officially still winter in Nepal until 21 March. That’s why this year the Spaniard Alex Txikon persevered with his winter attempt on Everest until halfway through March. Mountaineering bodies may classify it as winter, but for locals (and nature)...