Karakoram Diaries – 27th July
A round-up of today’s updates from the mountains of the Karakoram.
Multiple Summits on K2!
Today has seen summits from many Sherpa’s, ‘Hushe Pakistan Team’, ‘Ukraine / Nepal Team’, ‘Shehroze Kashif’ and the ‘Alpomania Team’ among others.
(Updated throughout the day)
“Success is the result of team work, dedication and passion!
“I am very proud to relay the news that our entire team have successfully summited the Savage Mountain K2.
“Team A Members list
Mr. Valentyn 🇺🇦
Mr. Pavlo 🇺🇦
Ms. Olga 🇷🇺
Mr. Aleksandr 🇷🇺
Mr. Kirill 🇷🇺
Mr. Valdimri 🇷🇺
“Team B Member list
Ms. Iryna 🇺🇦 (1st Ukraine women to summit K2)
Mr. Shehroze Kashif 🇵🇰 (youngest Pakistani climber to K2)
Mr. Dmytro 🇺🇦 (without supplimentary oxygen) will soon reach the summit with his climbing guide
“Sherpa list:
Mr. Lakpa Sherpa 🇳🇵
Mr. Mingma Dorchi Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Sanu Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Pemba Rita Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Lakpa Gyalzen Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Mingma Dorchi Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Chhiring Namgel Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Pemba Dorchee Sherpa🇳🇵
Mr. Tashi Sherpa🇳🇵
“I couldn’t be any more prouder. I heartily congratulate the entire team for their grand success.
I pray for their safe return
“Many congratulations to the entire team once again!!!!!”
“Shehroze has safely descended from Bottleneck and has reached Camp 4 Alhamdulillah
“Earlier today, Shehroze Kashif made 2 unique World Records by becoming:
1- Youngest Mountaineer in the world to summit K2
2- Youngest and only teenager Mountaineer in the world to summit world’s top two tallest mountains Everest 8849m and K2 8611m in same year within 3 months.”
“In this most recent weather window we attempted the West Ridge of Chogori/K2.
There we some brilliant moments including:
-Stunning climbing on ice slopes under a bright full moon.
-Walking narrow snow and ice ridges.
-Feeling as though we were climbing through history as we mixed climbed past signs of other climbers on the mountain
-Sitting out during the days and watching the sun’s light move over some of the world’s most stunning peaks.
But in the end we were stopped in our tracks by some of the warmest temperatures either of have experienced in the big mountains. At 7000m we were unable to go any further due to near constant avalanches and rock fall down the route.
At our 6900m bivy I recorded ambient (shaded) temperatures of 10+ degrees Celsius. Far too hot for climbing a route like the West Ridge. And with more high temps on the way we decided to bail and rapped all night.
I knew that the climate crisis was affecting these mountains but I can’t say that I anticipated getting scorched off the second highest peak in the planet.
We are now back at basecamp with Fida Ali and Nadeem, safe and sound and caffeinated. No need to be concerned about us for the next few days as we loaf around, eat dhal and recover.
“We’ve made Camp 3!
“I won’t lie it was an effort to get up here today. Nearly 700m of shattered rock followed by a soul destroying 300m of never ending snow.
“The forecast looks amazing and our stella sherpa team have fixed high above Camp 4.
“It’s all to play for….”
Today we climbed entirely on snow, which made a really pleasant change from relentless rock.
“It was however, still mostly steep with one incredibly beautiful open traverse in between.
“We’re now safely tucked up at Camp 4 ~7800m where we will whittle the next few hours away rehydrating, resting and refuelling before we start our summit bid at around 23:00!”
“We buried Rick yesterday morning in a mountain grave as his family wanted.
He was one of my oldest friends and the most honest and good-natured person I have had the honour of sharing a rope with. I had known him for more than 25 years.
The night before he died he was on fire with excitement for a potential new route up K2, the mountain of mountains. The next morning, I was with Ishaq Ali on the normal route and only 300m from Rick when the avalanche happened. He died doing what he loved, and every minute of his life he lived.
It was a hot day and the conditions were difficult. We went back down and waited until midnight at Advanced K2 Base Camp before going to get him off the mountain. Rick was a legend in these parts and porters came down from Camp 2 to help us find him.
At 6 am we woke to say our final goodbyes. Rick had a strong Christian faith. I washed his face and said a few words and a Christian prayer then Liaqat Karim, one of our Pakistani guides, said a Muslim prayer.
Rick was a true gentleman. My thoughts are with his family and his lovely girlfriend, Kathi.
This is the end of my K2 Insulin Challenge. I am at Base Camp and will be here for the next few days sorting Rick’s affairs before beginning my journey home.“
“Yesterday at 7.30 pm Saulius, Vitaly Lazo, Anton Pugovkin and I went to the third camp. Other comrades followed us, as a rule, most of them took oxygen balloons with them, accompanied by mountain porters. By about 1 o’clock at night, we had already climbed to an altitude of 7,500 meters. Here, the 50-degree slope was covered with a 3-5 mm thick firn (hardened coarse snow on the glaciers), under which there was a 30 mm layer of snow. The slope was like a ripe watermelon – if you punched it, it would be torn to pieces. Each trigger had to trigger common snowboards. Saulius tried to approach the 15-meter wall, we had to cross it, but the slope in front of him, which was much higher than Saulius, was cracked.
“We contacted Anton via walkie-talkie and stopped all participants on the route. Anton and Vitaly tested on the slope and came to the following conclusion: as long as we do not fall, we must go down ourselves. They called on everyone around them to move down, and we sent those around us down, one by one, at a distance of 20-30 meters. We landed in a relatively safe area in the fourth camp. We told the participants that it was impossible to climb the dangerous slope from now on, and the best decision now was to return to the third camp. With the exception of a Pakistani man holding a flashlight on the slope for about an hour, all participants reached their tents around 3:00 p.m. It’s morning. We lay in the tent. We are sad. We are in good shape physically, and our activity on the route proved it. The only factor that kept us together was security, and that is the most important issue. The rest is nothing but lyrical rhetoric…
“Apparently, Broad’s summit doesn’t want to let us down this time. Saul and I bid farewell to those who had fallen, and we decided to stay in the third camp for another day.”
“There was an avalanche hazard under the col (7800 m) and everyone would have returned ′′ is the message we received so no summit Broad Peak and Luc and Wouter would descend to camp 2 or basecamp.”
Marco Confortola (Gasherbrum I)
“Marco is rapidly descending to the CB and updates will follow. We are receiving so many messages about Mario and Marco in his phone call at 4 local time just said “I give up“ I don’t have good feelings. These are personal choices dictated by instinct. Mario was under him and it is not taken for granted that he made other decisions. We wish him the best.”
Summer Season in the Karakoram – 2021
Main Pic: Karakorum Expeditions Team
