Rodchester Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 This from two friends taking a shot at K-2. Thought other s might be interested. They are presently doing a "recon" of potential routes. ________________________ We arrived at K2 basecamp yesterday, after a nice trek up the Baltoro Glacier. We have found the local Balti people to be very friendly and helpful - no hassles so far. We did a recon to the base of the SSE spur this morning (June 20), and have decided to attempt a route up the south face, following the Polish line or perhaps another variation nearby. Tomorrow we will climb to approximately 5800 meters on the Polish route, to assess conditions and to acclimate. We are both feeling great and highly motivated! The weather has been unsettled for the last several days, but overall it seems to be ok and now improving. ____________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 K-2 is so hyped. I think I'll go do it next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 uhh ... i want to be on *that* rope team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: K-2 is so hyped. I think I'll go do it next year. Training Program: Drink beer, simul-solo the Tooth with partner repeatedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeadam Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 The Tooth is a classic alpine climb with good position and classic moves replete with good protection points and anchors. A true classic deserving of it's reputation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 Hi, I was summoned. Here I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 Did they bring along Nitro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleblebleb Posted June 22, 2002 Share Posted June 22, 2002 No, that's only used for rescue situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted June 22, 2002 Share Posted June 22, 2002 I am interested in hearing more about their trip Rodchester. Thanks for sharing. Jedi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texplorer Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 K2 . . .I heard its a walk up like the south side of hood that guys in their 40's go try and die on cause us young guys are too poor to get there. (yes I am a smart ass -no disrespect for your friends on the hill) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 smartass- sounds more like a wanker to me aid boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted June 25, 2002 Author Share Posted June 25, 2002 June 21, 2002 Update _____________________________ Yesterday we climbed a line to the right of the original polish route on the south face of K2. We left a tent, food, fuel and gear at 5700 meters. The snow conditions were faily good and allowed rapid progress. Today we are resting at base camp with beautiful sunny skies. Tomorrow we plan to climb to about 5900 meters and bivy. The following day we plan to climb to 6400 meters and bivy again. From here we hope to do a recon of the route above before returning to base camp. We are having a great time with everyone at base camp. We are acclimating well and feel strong. Looking forward to the climb ahead! We send our best to the folks at home! Christine and Charlie _______________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted June 27, 2002 Author Share Posted June 27, 2002 June 26th, K2 basecamp: Christine and Charlie here! Last Sunday June 23rd, we climbed to 5900 meters and established our camp 1 on the south face of K2. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and we decended late in the evening back to base camp. The weather has been unstable since then. We had our Puja on Monday. Lhama Jangbu performed the ceremony. Lhama Jangbu was a team member on our recent Everest expedition. He is now climbing with a Spanish team on K2. Last night it snowed a foot. We woke to find our mess tent collapsed from the weight of the snow. The weather seems to be improving. We are enjoying base camp life though by playing cards, reading and taking short hikes around base camp. Tomorrow we plan to hike to Broad Peak base camp and stash gear at the base of the mountain in anticipation of our acclimatization climb. Now it is just a waiting game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 doesn't puja mean something rude in Spanish?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Dru, I believe thats Puta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted July 1, 2002 Author Share Posted July 1, 2002 Recent update ___________________________________ July 1st, Basecamp to 6400 meters and back.... We just returned to base camp after spending three days climbing on K2. On June 28th we climbed to our stash at 5900 meters and bivied there. The following day we continued up the face in marginal weather to 6400 meters. The snow conditions were fairly good. We pitched our tent on a small ledge and settled in for the night. The next day was snowy and windy with occasional periods of sunshine. We climbed a bit above camp to scout out our proposed route, which looks challenging but relatively safe and fun. We spent another night at 6400 meters and returned to base camp the next morning, July 1st. We plan to spend a few days at base camp resting and getting organized for our next objective, a climb of Broad Peak. Weather permitting, we anticipate commencing our climb within a week. We hope to climb Broad Peak in a single push. This should give us adequate acclimatization for our proposed climb of K2. _______________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted July 11, 2002 Author Share Posted July 11, 2002 Latest Update __________________________________________ July 8, K2 basecamp (Broad Peak attempt) Now we are back at K2 basecamp after our attempt at Broad Peak was cut short by bad weather. We did manage to spend three nights on the mountain, however: From basecamp we climbed to Camp 1 at 5800 meters on July 4. The next day we climbed to Camp 2 at 6400 meters. We had hoped to continue to Camp 3 (6900 meters) the following morning, but high winds and blowing snow convinced us to change our plans. We also received a weather report indicating continued unsettled weather through July 11, so we decided to postpone our summit attempt on Broad Peak till then. We are relaxing at Basecamp, along with other members of the international team, enjoying the great cooking of Karim and his staff. Most climbers are now waiting at basecamp for the next spell of good weather, expected to arrive in four to five days. Some expeditions are now poised to make their summit bids on K2, including the Japanese and Tibetan teams. A large German expedition will go for the top of Broad Peak at the next opportunity, too. Our plan is to head back to Broad Peak around the 10th or 11th of July, weather permitting. If all goes well we should be able to climb the peak in about four days. After that, we will take a good long rest at basecamp then go for K2. _______________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 just take 100 gu packets and single-push it 24 hours or less "yak to yak" (no cars at base camp ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpine_Tom Posted July 12, 2002 Share Posted July 12, 2002 No yaks either, in Pakistan. It'd be goat-to-goat, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedMonk Posted July 13, 2002 Share Posted July 13, 2002 goat to goat huh? sounds like a joekania party.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 July 14, K2 basecamp Christine and Charlie here at K2 base camp; still waiting for good weather. We climbed to 6400 meters on Broad Peak on July 9th with hopes for a summit push. Unfortunately we got hit by a storm early morning on July 10th. The weather didn't improve, so we returned to base camp later in the morning. On July 11th all Broad Peak and K2 expeditions celebrated Aga Khan's Birthday. Aga Khan is a highly respected religous leader in the Baltro region. Large feast was prepared by the cooks of all expeditions. Afterward all the expedtions and L.O.s showed off their dancing moves. Well now it's a waiting game at base camp. The weather forecast isn't too promising! We hope to go back on Broad Peak tomorrow. We heard the German Broad Peak Expedition may start their summit attempt tomorrow, as well. They must leave base camp on July 21st for their journey back to Germany. Hopefully sunny skies will come soon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted July 29, 2002 Author Share Posted July 29, 2002 July 20, K2 basecamp Hi from K2 base camp! We just returned from a successful acclimazation climb on Broad Peak. On July 15th under cloudy, dark skies, we climbed to the 6400 camp on Broad Peak. The weather reminded us of a normal Washington Cascade day. The next morning, (16th) greeted us with clear skies and crisp air. We climbed higher to 6800 meters, where we dug a platform and set up camp. Later in the day we climbed higher to 6900 meters and scouted the route above. From there we decended back to camp and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon sun. The next day we moved our camp to 7300 meters. We cut a platform for our tent in the icy slopes beneather the summit pyramid. We brewed hot drinks, made dinner and prepared to go higher the following day. We woke up at 11pm to cloudy and stormy skies. We felt it would be difficult to navigate higher, so we made the 18th a rest day. The skies cleared in the evening. We received word by radio that the Koreans and other members of the K2 International expedition where going for the summit of Broad Peak from 6400 meters in the morning. We left our camp at midnight to climb towards the top. We took turns breaking trail in the deep snow. The Koreans caught up to us at 7700 meters and took over making the trail. We reach close to 7800 meters when our friends from the K2 International team caught up. At this point, just below the col, we ran into poor snow conditions and everyone decided it was safer to descend. We were back at our tent by 6am. We warmed up a bit before breaking down camp and returning to K2 base camp. It took us the rest of the day to get there, since we were carrying heavy loads. Our plans are to rest for the next 5-6 days at base camp drinking plenty of Starbucks coffee and eating alot. After our climb on Broad Peak we feel we are sufficiently acclimated for an attempt to summit K2. Now we just need to be well rested before our K2 attempt. We recieved news that the Tibetans made a summit push on K2 today. They reached approximately 8400 meters, fixing rope through the bottleneck and reported knee-deep snow. They turned around because they were exhausted and encountered high winds, it is reported. Our plans are still to climb the south face via a variation to the Polish route. We hope to climb to our stash at 6400 meter around the 26th. Weather permitting, we hope to make the climb in 5 days, but we are prepared to spend more time on the face if necessary. We are not using fixed ropes, oxygen or porter support. Now it's back to drinking coffee, lots of reading and preparing for our climb ahead! Christine & Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted July 29, 2002 Author Share Posted July 29, 2002 Another post from C&C: _______________________________________________ July 25, K2 basecamp Today is our sixth rest day in a row, since we returned from our acclimatization climb on Broad Peak. We've just had four days of snowy, windy and cold weather. Yesterday was the first day the sun came out. We received some bad news on the 21st, when a Liason Officer from the Tibetan team fell from just below Camp 2 down to the base of mountain. He died instantly. The LO, who had elected to climb with the Tibetans, was a captain in the Pakistani military. All the expeditions came to the assistance to carry the body back to base camp. Many expeditions have become discouraged with the weather and the lastest death, and have decided to abort K2. The Tibetans, both remaining Spanish teams, and Henry Todd's international team are all leaving in the next few days. The only teams left now are the Mexican-Spanish, Japanese, and our small camp: Simone Moro (heading for Broad Peak tomorrow), Charlie and Christine (who are all on Henry's permit). The Japanese have left basecamp today for the summit of K2, and over on Broad Peak a Korean team has started for that summit, as well. We plan to start up K2 tomorrow ourselves. The weather doesn't look too stable with high cirrus clouds forming, but we will go up in any case, and see what happens. We do recieve weather forecasts here via email, but the forecasts have proven to be very inaccurate, so it is tricky to judge when we should begin climbing. Ideally we need about five days or so of good weather for a summit attempt, but lately we have only seen short periods of good weather - a day or so at the most. In any case we will now go up and get get some climbing done. Christine and Charlie ____________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted August 1, 2002 Author Share Posted August 1, 2002 July 30, Then there was five.... The Spanish climber Luis Fraga's line of porters passed by our tent this morning under cloudy and snowy skies. The Spanish team was the last of four expeditions to leave K2 base camp in the last few days. The Tibetans, the two Spanish and Henry Todd's International teams have trekked out to Askole in the last 4 days and have made K2 base camp similar to a ghost town. It has snowed for 5 days straight. Doubts of a summit attempt have started to enter our minds. The Japanese, Spanish-Mexican and Charlie and I are the last to reside at base camp. The Japanese team is finished on K2 and will be leaving on the 4th or 5th to attempt Gasherbrum II. Then there will be only five climbers here at base camp to climb K2: Three members in the Spanish-Mexican team and Charlie and Christine. One of the Pakistan rules of climbing in the K2 area is all expeditions must have an Liaison Officer present with the team. A Liaison Officer is an officer within the Pakistan military that stays with the expedition and sees that the expedition is abiding by the climbing rules and he acts as a correspondent to the Ministry of Tourism if a request needs to be made from the expedition. We are on the International permit. When our leader left, they signed us off to the Japanese Liaison Officer. Now the Japanese want to leave as early as the 4th or 5th. According to the rules we are required to leave with the Japanese LO. We are trying to work out an option to stay longer, but it's hard to justify the fight when the weather is so miserable. We may try to push our stay for a few days longer to enable us for one more summit push. However we would need the weather to change in the next couple days. Overall there hasn't been much progress on K2 this season, except for the Tibetan team. They arrived at base camp late May. It wasn't until July 20th when they got as high as 8400 meters(above the bottleneck) under marginal conditions. The Tibetans reported that on their descent they took 7 hours in white out conditions to locate their high camp. The Japanese expedition spent this past week at camp 2 (6900 meters) on the Abruzzi ridge route waiting for clear skies for an attempt at the summit. They gave up and are coming down. The snow continues to fall and load the slopes higher on the mountain with deep snow. Above 6500 meters the snow has been reported as unconsolidated, "sugary, and knee to waist deep. It may take several days of sunny weather for the slopes to become stable enough for safe travel. One weather forecast we received predicts drier conditions after August 3rd, which gives us some hope. In the meantime we keep ourselves busy by reading, short hikes around base camp and socializing with our few neighbors who remain. We will keep everyone posted if the weather changes. Christine and Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot'teryx Posted August 8, 2002 Share Posted August 8, 2002 August 8, 2002 Hi Everyone, We are back down safely at base camp after an unsuccessful attempt on the summit of K2. On August 2 under clear skies we climbed to 6400 meters on the south face of K2. We found the snow conditions good with firm to knee deep snow. We found our stash of gear buried under a thick layer of ice and it took us a couple hours to recover our gear. The next day we climbed with heavy packs a delicate corniced snow and rock ridge. It took several hours. Due to the lateness of the day and the snow conditions we decided to camp at 6700 meters. Early morning on August 4, we traversed under a giant hanging serac. We were exposed to icefall for about 30 minutes before climbing slopes under the SSE ridge to gain the Cesen route (SSE Spur). The weather to the south looked bad with dark clouds forming over Chogolisa. We had a difficult time finding our way to the ridge and were moving slowly. With high winds coming off the summit and the uncertain weather we decided to turn around. We descended to the site of our 6700 meter camp. Due to poor snow conditions we decided to spend the night at here. On August 6, we descended to base camp. Our cook met us at the bottom with cold drinks and a warm greeting. We heard that the Mexican-Spanish team also came down on the 6th due to weather after making a carry to their 6900 meter camp. The weather fooled us, because the last two days it has been beautiful. We can't speculate on how high we would of climbed to if we would of continued. Unfortunately we will not have an opportunity for another try. We had lunch yesterday with the Japanese expedition. Wonderful folks with much climbing experience. Last night the Mexican - Spanish invited us for dinner. They plan to continue to climb on the SSE spur. We enjoyed our climbs on K2 and Broad Peak this season. We got a lot of climbing in with only a few additional rest days. We can't understand why everyone left base camp so early this season. Climbing in the Karakorum one must be patience and sometimes one must wait out the weather to be successful. The weather in August is looking good so far. We wish we could stay longer, but our porters are expected on the 9th of August. We look forward to our next climbing objective. There so many mountains to climb and many without permits or LOs to deal with. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.