In reply to ebdon:
> (In reply to Damo) Interesting bit about the Mazano ridge - I had presumed it was done largely alpine style (hence the award) but this article seems to suggest they had ropes fixed most of the way? I get the impression the article is saying you can’t really climb hard, or indeed anything, in the Himalayas without getting someone to fix ropes which I’m not too sure about
The article is not saying that. It's saying that *commercial expeditions* would not climb anything big without Sherpas. It's not talking about more traditional, smaller expeditions of regular, unguided climbers on other peaks.
As far as the Mazeno ascent? I thought it was a bit incongruous, but I don't know the exact nature of the relationship between them all when they went into it. It seems to me they were hired as 'help', which is incompatible with the Piolets d'Or thing, fwtw. On the other hand what Rick and Sandy did in the end was incredibly impressive. Could they have done it without their strong paid Sherpa friends? Unlikely.