Karakoram Diaries – 11th July
A round-up of today’s events on the mountains of the Karakoram.
Stephan Keck confirms Broad Peak Paraglide – French Quartet summit Gasherbrum 2 – Camp 3 fixed on both K2 and Broad Peak – Summits expected on Broad Peak this week – Trio summit Diran
“Had a great day up on Camp 2 of Broad Peak on my birthday
“My team Karakorum Expeditions fixed ropes till camp 3 on 9th July, established camp 3
“Yesterday 10th July we established camp 3 on K2.
“While four clients are acclimatising on Broad Peak Camp 3 and some are resting at base camp. We are aiming for the 16th July Broad Peak summit if the weather permits!”
“We spent last night at 6300m on Broad Peak. It’s tough and unforgiving up here. But we have to acclimatise to low oxygen levels before we push for the K2 summit.
Although I am getting used to the lack of oxygen, I know my body will never get used to Type 1 Diabetes.
The condition stops me from producing the hormone insulin. We all need insulin to survive, it’s just that I have to inject it because my pancreas decided to pack up!
High-altitude climbing is difficult and adding T1D into the mix does not make it easier. You need to inject way more at these altitudes and there is also the risk of your insulin freezing over. Those with T1D know it can be such a pain.
But as I look at the stunning views of the Karakoram and enjoy laughs in camp I know I am lucky. If I did not have insulin to inject I would not be ‘Jerry Gore the mountaineer trying to climb K2’…. I would not be alive.”
“Camp 3 (7330m) reached! It was quite a journey.
On July 8th I left Base Camp at 4:30 am. Made all the way up to Camp 2 in 10,5 hours. Spent a sleepless night there with hard wind and snow and next day went to Camp 3.
Climbing Black Pyramid alone (although with fixed ropes) was quite a journey and 6 hours after leaving Camp 2 I made it. Touched 7300 meters right after the Sherpa fixing team.
Most important thing was the Place was empty and intact after winter and that gave me good shooting opportunities.
I went down to Camp 2 and next day (10.07) to Base Camp. Now it’s time for some well deserved rest.”
“As the sun draws to close on the Karakoram we cook our dinner, boil a little more water & nip out for one last pee before bed.
“It’s 19:00 and I’m deep in my sleeping bag, warm and cozy ready for another 10 hour sleep!
“It’s been a magical 5 days on K2 acclimatising to ~6700m.”
“All our K2 members have well acclimatized till 7000m and are safely back to Base Camp.
Wishing for everything to go well and have a successful expedition.”
“It seems prudent to share that I am able to get the odd post out from a location not too distant from basecamp. From there I can hit a 4g tower that the Pakistani Military has installed.
“Not surprisingly, being a weeks walk from the nearest town and in one of the largest mountain ranges on the planet, this tower has been heavily effected by storms and has subsequently been quite inconsistent.
“So please don’t worry if you don’t hear from us for long stretches. Know that we’re out here doing what we love and taking all the precautions necessary to come home in one piece.”
Stephan Keck (Broad Peak and K2)
“Probably one of the best flying days of my life. Start on the way to Camp 3 Broad Peak at 6600m. Maximum flying altitude 7400m. It is an amazing feeling to be able to fly in front of these scenes, face 2 face with K2. Thankful for days like this. We didn’t expect that at this stage of our project. It looks like we’re working perfectly as a team. Based on this experience, material and technology can be adapted and perfected over the course of the year. Thanks to Hannes for the perfect #phiparagliders equipment. Thanks Mike Keung that was the perfect start for Project: Addicted.”
“Next step Broad Peak summit.”
“We covered 80 km of trekking in 4 days! Incredible mountains around, Pakistan impresses with its beauty and seriousness! The mountains here are not for children, this is the next step after Nepal.”
“Tired but satisfied again in camp2. The cold morning provided perfect weather conditions! Together with Niels and Jeff we reached camp3 at 6850 meters, tomorrow we descend again to basecamp. ENJOYING IT TO THE FULLEST!”
“Arrived at Camp I of Broad Peak at 4pm. It was a tough long day.”
“In order to become the youngest person atop any 8000er, the 12 year old Selena Khawaja and her dad Yousaf Khawaja have reached Broad Peak basecamp. Weather is awesome and Selena is in excellent energy and in very high spirits. They will start rotations day after tomorrow.”
“Going up for a few days of acclimatization in the mountain resulted in:
– fatigue (it’s hard not to)
– viewing euphoria (because the views were o-erratic)
– new acquaintances (I don’t think there were climbers I wouldn’t talk to)
– altitude cough (he got me late this time anyway)
– losing a few kilos from my beloved body (okay, I confess: after returning to the tent, I ′′ celebrated it with eating the ′′ floor ′′ of the bird’s milk)
– the dream of a shower (well, I won’t lie that hygiene is among the climbers’s priorities at height).
Unfortunately, for ′′ objective ′′ reasons, I mean too deep, unprepared snow and an unnoticed route to camp 3, I couldn’t make the camp 3 accommodation plan – I got to 6700 m, which despite everything is not a bad result.”
Alpine Adventure Guides (Gasherbrum II)
“4 French skier mountaineers summated Gasherbrum II 8035 M peak today, this the first 8000dr summit in Karakorum Mountains in Pakistan, this 4 French skier mountaineers are members of Alpine international Gasherbrum Expedition 2021.”
Paul Diac and Iulian Costan (Gasherbrum II)
“Paul and Iulian arrived in C1 today. The idea was to do the 3th acclimatization rotation, but the weather is announced a bit bad the next few days, they will be decided tomorrow depending on the weather and how they feel if the climb continues in C2 or returning to base camp to wait for a better weather window.”
Beskid Expedition Team (Gasherbrum II)
“This morning after a sleepover at C 3 at 7000 m above sea level we started going down to BC. Now we are restoring and regenerating strength.”
Marco Confortola (Gasherbrum I)
“Here we go back to BC after a few days at altitude trying to pave the way to the top camps.
“The snow-mixed rock wall that leads us to C 3 ′′ 7100 m is a wall of an unhealthy rock and to protect ourselves you need to be very careful where the protections are placed (snow-fittons rock nails). The first 100m to be the hardest, with Mario we equipped them yesterday. I honestly didn’t find them particularly difficult even if you need to be very careful how you move.
“We found remains of old ropes and the day before I looked at the whole wall with my trusty binoculars just to look for stopping points. So finding it equipped is one thing, finding two positioning more than 600m of ropes, history changes, it’s important to always put safety ahead. Currently we have placed 200m (above C2) of ropes the technical part would already seem done but unfortunately they give 3 bad days wather forecast and if it’s snowing so much we should track everything again.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t snow too much so we can get back to the wall and make it to the C3 hopefully. Another story is on the G2 with the wall exposed to the South, it leaves a better chance being exposed to the sun, maybe today 4 French boys might have reached the top and on that mountain there is more buzz and movement than Alpinists.”
Helias Millerioux – (Diran 7,266m)
“Summit”
Summer Season in the Karakoram – 2021
Main Photo: Dmitry Semerenko
