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Christian Stangl was in top form on Mount Vinson. Although the external circumstances were not perfect. Because of very bad weather Stangl had to wait in Chile several days before he finally could take off to Antarctica. In basecamp he also had to spend a couple of days waiting for better weather.

On december 7th at 8.30 CHT Christian Stangl took off and headed for Mount Vinson. As always with a minimum of equipment. There is very little geographical  material of this area. The extreme mountain climber had to find his way through a seven or ten kilometres wide plane and of course the peak of Mount Vinson only by GPS.

9 hours and 10 minutes later he has reached the top. The sun is shining and there is no wind – but minus 15 degrees celsius.

The highest mountains of each continent are called "Seven Summits" and everyone of them has its own challenges. Mount Vinson, seems to be the most difficult one. It is situated on one of the most unpleasant places on earth. In the Antarctica, about 1200 km away from the south pole. It is not only cold out there (with temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Celsius) but also very windy.

26 hours from basecamp to summit is the latest record on Mount Vinson. About 3000 metres. Christian Stangl wants to be faster. On his most recent training session on Cho Oyu (8201 m) he has pushed his endurance and acclimatisation to the limit. Christian Stangl is ready for "Vinson Project 2007". We will keep you informed.

The documentary "The Skyrunner" (E.O.F.T. 07/08) shows Christian Stangls expedition to Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua. If you want to know more about the extreme climber you can visit his homepage: www.skyrunning.at

There is no need for a couple of days of good weather if you plan to climb a mountain at full speed. But you must get acclimatised too. And that is the problem. Speed climbers always climb a mountain twice. One time "normal" - and the next time at full speed. But Manaslu would not let them.

Beni and Basti did not spend their time alone on Manaslu. Nicolas Bonnet (Frenchman, junior champion in ski-mountainclimbing) and the Austrian cameraman Hubert Rieger were also part of the team.

Huber Rieger has also documented Christian Stangls expedition to Carstensz Pyramid ("The Skyrunner" E.O.F.T. 07/08). We had a first look on the pictures from Manaslu and can tell you: There will be a new adventure documentary with Beni and Basti in the next E.O.F.T.!

By the way: "Gasherbrum II - The Fastest Summit" - the first adventure of the extreme climbers is available in our online shop.

We will be there - and we hope: you too! If you have any questions or if you want to reserve tickets please use our contact form.

Yesterday we saw the film program of this year for the first time on a big screen. And we do not think we have promised too much... Have a look and visit us on one of over 50 events in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy!

The other members of their team and most of the expedtion equipment left after that defeat. Beni and Basti wanted to stay nonetheless. An expedition from Switzerland was still hoping for better weather at the foot of the mountain, too. Our mountaineers saw the very last chance to reach the summit...

October 6th: 5.300 metres high - absolute "White-Out". You cannot even guess where the top of Manaslu is hiding. There is only one possibility: turn around and wait for tomorrow - or the day after tomorrow...

October 8th: The leader of the swiss expedition is an realist: "It's over boys!". The basecamp is entirely snowed in. The higher camps are totally destroyed. One night of heavy snowfall has finally dashed all hope. It is time to go home.

After all Beni and Basti have reached the highest point (7.400 Metres) of Manaslu in this fall. Nobody rushed to the summit.

They are back in Germany right now and take a well-earned rest.

More information: http://www.manaslu.baiern.net/expedition.htm

Here's a small hint for all that need their DVD quickly: If you use PayPal for payment we are usually able to send out your order within two working days. And if you order from outside Germany you can spare out on any transaction fees that your bank might claim.

More information about this project on www.manaslu.baiern.net