Karakoram Diaries – 19th July
A round-up of today’s events on the mountains of the Karakoram.
The sad news today of the death of Kim Hong-bin after a fall on the descent from the summit of Broad Peak.
He had just completed his 14x 8,000m summits.
Climbers from ‘Death Zone Freeride’ Team reported the news as they assisted but couldn’t save him.
The same Team helped rescue Anastasia Runova who also fell but appears close to safety now.
Anton Pugovkin (Death Zone Freeride Team)
“As soon as our bodies accepted the night at 22, then the brain machine turned off after working for a day at an altitude above 7000.
“But at exactly midnight I hear a bustle near our tent, by the way, we are used to it, everyone just starts rallies near us. We turn on the radio, it’s not fucking clear, we are trying to consolidate the information for 40 minutes… honestly to no purpose, we understand that Anastasia Runova fell on the route near the jumper (7900m), what state is unknown, where, when and with whom it is also not clear.
“The brain still offers a variant of delirium, but the dripping condensation on the face speaks of the reality of what is happening. It take almost an hour, a separate topic is the first-aid kit, I ran out of syringes for this rotation. We took the unused oxygen cylinder. And since we did not know neither the nature of the injury, nor the location, we loaded ourselves in full, even took the karemat.
“Well, let’s go… My job is to go and quickly. The load was shared by Vitaly Lazo, the rest was me. At about 3 o’clock, information about a critical situation in Mr. Kim’s group begins to arrive, they say he fell somewhere and you can’t even get to him… We have to deal with it.. At 4 I meet Nastya, as they say, it can go, but evacuation by helicopter is required.
“At the same time, it is obvious that she does not need oxygen, we are at 7400, she came here and will leave below, Vitalya decides to put on a mask and go to 7900 to help the Koreans. In general, Nastya is in the third camp area, she rested, drank and with a group of comrades are now leaving for the second camp, the weather is not very good.
“My friend Vitaly found the Korean Kim, who, having fallen 15 meters whole, will now begin to drag him out, together with a porter, to the jumper.
“May God give them strength. And I just have to wait for him in the third camp and sit.
Update: “Went to the fourth camp, brought Vitaly Lazo oxygen but it didn’t work out with Kim.. We’re now in the third camp and going down until it gets dark.”
“Due to the weather conditions, going from camp 3 to base camp was not easy, but since there is finally internet, tomorrow I will describe the events of the last hours and the summit attack. In any case, my preliminary estimates show that out of about 40 Broad Peak climbers, only 5 won, including Oswald Piereira (congratulations !!!!) and Mr Kim from South Korea, already mentioned by me on this page. Unfortunately, right after his dream came true, i.e. the closure of the Crown of the Himalayas and the Karakoram, Mr. Kim fell into the 20m gap and could not be saved. What can I say, we are all shocked. And just a few days ago, with Mr Kim, we ate the dried fish that the Korean team brought to Pakistan, I talked about my impressions from my stay in Korea (North and South) and we were enjoying the upcoming summit attack. We cannot believe… Mr Kim has amputated fingers after frostbite, thanks to which he wanted to become the first climber with such a disability on the peaks of all eight-thousanders. And he stayed, although it was a pity that he paid the price.“
“Broad Beak summited!
Maybe it’s a little surprising this Mountain was in my head since my first appearance on Karakoram. Truth is also I wanted to make some exceptional footage of K2 and Broad Peak gives this option. But let’s go chronologically.
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“On July 15th I went up directly to Camp2. Next day I felt very strong and also felt motivated by the half year anniversary of death of Sergi Mingote. On 17th early morning we went up in quite a small team following high altitude porters going in direction of summit. But soon enough it turned we had to deal with massive amounts of snow. After noon we passed through a huge crevasse but unfortunately climbing in powder snow was impossible so we turned back to C3.
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“After more than 10 hours of hard work I would never say next night I will be able to go again. But in fact that’s what happened. We woke up in the middle of the night. We used fixed ropes until some point but last hours were quite an alpine style with Hugo (Bolivia) and Niels (Belgium). The three of us made it to the summit at 3:15pm. Without oxygen and with two days of incredible hard work. And we were the first one of the season.”
“Slightly derailed but still thoroughly entertained by the whole scene here.”
“The weather has started to deteriorate. It will be few slow days at basecamp till skies open up and I get another window for next rotation.”
Jenn Drummond (K2 and Broad Peak)
“We made it to Camp 2 (21,980ft)! We knew it would be a beast of a day skipping through Camp 1 and straight to Camp 2 to take advantage of the weather opportunity. It was my first time to this altitude during this expedition and my stomach has been a bit of a mess, hopefully getting better soon.
“The ropes being set on Broad Peak are a bit of a mess right now, which is not very encouraging, but we all remain hopeful.
Today, we got up early to push to Camp 3 (23,800ft). I got sick halfway up, so I am climbing with oxygen from here on out. It’s amazing how oxygen really helps you stay warm. I’m so grateful to have this option.
“So now we are working on getting the ropes situated so we can make our summit attempt! We want to go for it and get off the mountain before another storm comes through!
“My goal is getting closer, and I’m finding comfort in moving onward and upward– literally! Attitude has so much to do with how we perceive our efforts and ability to achieve our goals.”
“After successfully opening route till Camp IV our team are resting at Base Camp and waiting for the final summit push!”
“The last few days I’ve been asking myself why I like Pakistan, why I’m drawn to it, why I’m going back.
“The answer is: for love. Love for the landscapes, the mountains, the wilderness, the local people and everyone I meet and are on the road like me.
“Even though the last expedition tested me and broke my heart, this place has given me so much! And now it’s time to give something back to this country.
“We set off again for the hike to K2 base camp, and our thoughts are fixed on the beautiful beloved souls lost there.”
Fars Mountaineering Team (Gasherbrum 2)
“Arman Shahpari and Milad Keshavarzi entered the “Gasherbrum 2” base camp an hour ago and were welcomed by other mountaineers present in the area. It should be noted; Yesterday, July 18, 1400, this team succeeded in climbing the 8035-meter peak of “Gasherbrum 2″ without using added oxygen.”
The Altitude Team (Gasherbrum II)
“Finally we’ve arrived at Base Camp. We’re all of us back together The Altitude Team celebrating the team Summit and especially the experience.
Thank you all for the support.”
“Our attempt to free climb ‘Eternal Flame’ continues. We have installed a bivouac on the Sun Terrace (5.700m) and we are waiting for the next window of good weather. We calculate that we will be able to spend about 12 days on the wall. Bad weather has prevented us from trying all the pitches. The morning sun melts the snow and many of the cracks immediately get wet. We hope to have better conditions during this week. We have acclimatized well and for now the altitude is respecting us. Motivation remains high.”
Summer Season in the Karakoram – 2021
