Friday, March 29, 2024
K2

Ukranian Team Alpomania – K2 Updates

This year there was a Ukranian Team on K2.

Six members plus assistance wereclimbing as the Alpomania Team.

Including… Valik Sypavin – Troika Sipavin – Sidorenko – Dmitry Logachev – Vladimir Belkovich – Olga Koroleva

We followed their progress here with updates from Valik, unless mentioned…

29th July

Irina Galay

“In the blossoming, fragrant valley, Where the waters of Latorica are blue, It has appeared in beauty solemnly Ancient and modern city… The coat of arms of the native city of Mukachevo with me on top of K2.”

Expedia.com

27th July

Summits!

“Around 9 am local time at the summit, Valik’s team. In which Valik himself and Pavlo Sidorenko from Kharkov and Olga Koroleva, Aleksander Logachev, Kirill Semeshkin, and Vladimir Belkovich from Russia.

“A little later, Irina Galay first climbs with her Sherpas, who has become the first Ukrainian woman now not only on Everest, but also on K2. And also Dima Semerenko, who ascends K2 without using oxygen. Well, Dimon was surprised, it’s very strong!

“Today, according to the plan, the teams descend to the third camp. Let me remind you that going up is only part of the way. Therefore, we keep our fists and wish you all a successful descent! Another part of the teams is planning to storm the summit tomorrow – that is, 28.07.

“On the neighboring 8000-meter Peak, Broad Peak, the situation is not so successful. All the teams that went to the assault were forced to turn around from a height of 7500-7600 due to the high avalanche hazard. I don’t know if the guys will try to go to the assault for the third time this season .. We will wait for the guys in the base camp safe and sound, and I will make another final release after the second part of the teams descended from K2.”

18th July

Valik Sypavin

“Actually today is Broad Peak news. Yesterday, 17.07, most of the climbers went to the assault yesterday. But according to the scattered data that we get from scraps of different radio sessions, the climbers faced deep snow and a huge crack. Everyone returned to Camp 3. And yesterday at 22:00 Pakistani time they went out for a second assault. For now (10:00 Paxitan time, 8:00 Moscow time and Kiev) we see a group of climbers on Broad Peak from the Base. They work. Almost everything is without oxygen. In the photo, in a red circle, the advance group. Israfil Ashurly, Nastya Runova and other guys are on the ascent now. We keep fingers crossed for the guys! Let them do it safely!”

17th July

Valik Sypavin

“We have no special news. It does not matter. After the second rotation, the puja was done. But since a monk should do the puja, and he was not among our Sherpas, we listened to prayers from youtube, anointed each other with tzamp, and stretch the flags. Then there were long days of rest. We mastered the game of perudo (remember, in the Pirates of the Caribbean, “there are seven fives, here are eight fours”?), Ate homemade sausage and bacon, taught the cook to fry potatoes with garlic … At this time, a team of Sherpas went to C2 and C3, brought oxygen … And yesterday we reached almost 8000. Handsome guys. Snow at the top of the night, showed pictures. We sat down. Part of the team, having learned about the good forecast, sharply wanted to go to Broad Peak. But we thought that the main goal of K2, which means we will focus on it. Therefore, you need to go to the second rotation. At first it was somehow hard. And then everything is clear. As a result, we went light. The mountains are alive here. It is hot now. Constantly flying from somewhere, thundering, pouring. Even in a tent during the day you hear something flowing, murmuring, crumbling … And at night the glacier under the tent is cracking … In the icefall, the same story. We go up – one relief, the next day down – absolutely everything else. The forecast for the next few days is getting worse, so while we sit, wait, make plans for the assault… “

15th July

Team

“The first rotation of the Alpomania-Pioneer team is complete. All participants feel great, everyone is in the sun. Several members of the Jasmin team made the second rotation to C3. Team Madison spent 2 nights in C1 and 2 nights in C2, already descended into the BC. So far, the situation is as follows. At 14.07. the railing is fixed to C3. Several high altitude porters of the Karakoram expedition team tried to bring oxygen to C3, but did not reach 200m. 13-14.07 two days of bad weather with wind up to 55 km / h. All teams are sitting downstairs. In C2, three tents of the Madison group were blown away by the wind. On # K2, according to the plan, the Sherpas of the two teams will go on 16.07 to C2 and then to C3 for oxygen delivery. On Broad Peak, the teams are preparing to take the assault early in the morning of 15.07 right at C2. Forecast for Broad Peak for 16-18.07. excellent, wind 5 km / h on the summit! Our friends are there! Let’s wish the guys good luck!”

14th July

Valik Sypavin

“The path from C1 to C2 is already steeper. Significantly. The rocks begin. And more. Zhumarim for 1-2 people on the site. The stations again, on the one hand, touch, on the other hand, they make you think: what will be higher? And again I cut the old ropes, I hit the hooks and anchors… At this time, the team is waiting (breathing and resting :)). And here is the famous Fireplace House. Remember this video on YouTube with gopro, where someone is so scary and climbs it for a long time? Well, it looks so-so, I will say. We come up with Kirill @semeshkin first. Kira, hold it, please, the rope is tight))) and remembering my young years, out of habit, I timed the stopwatch 🙂 in short, you shouldn’t be afraid of this place at all. 3’52 “it turned out to shake at an altitude of 6600 … Vidosik with gopro will be;) While the guys are crawling, I shoot them videos and photos from above, again I change something, interrupt, bandage … And here is C2.

“The place is more comfortable, even there is a place where to go to the toilet, albeit on a self-belay and in cats 🙂 The views are generally a bomb 🙂 There may already be winds, tents are tied with a rope, a web of railing between the tents, because walking unbuckled is very fraught. ) But also garbage. (The next day, according to the plan, a day of rest. It’s already hot at 6:00. I’m making coffee, cookies. We roll around in tents. But by 11am the guys already have a break from idleness and some want to take a walk upstairs. healthy ones, I think, would roll around in tents and listen to music or books … Akklem is a little bit, 6700 for the first rotation is quite high, so we are not far away. the weather is ringing, the stones are even warm Pasha takes out the Red Ma candy to and gives to Mingme, who decided to take a walk with us. Our cry of protest soothes, they say, I have another one for three. And he gets us a tasteless “Chamomile” … Well, Pasha, they seemed to be communicating normally, but here it is … 🙂 It seems that we are still up to the jokes … And the rocks are getting steeper, there are fewer anchors. Of course, I understand those who hang the ropes. They want to hang as much as possible in a day. Therefore, they knit and fasten really haphazardly: in the old railings and snot, hooks do not finish … You need to be careful.”

6th to 12th July

Valik Sypavin

“The first rotation has been completed. Acclimatization is quite tough on K2. 

“The first run looked like this: 7.07. ВС (4950) -С1 (6000), night 8.07. C1 (6000) -C2 (6700), night 9.07. C2 (6700) -exit (6850) -C2 (6700), night 10.07. C2 (6700) -BC (4950) And the two Sipavin and Logachev stayed for the third night in C2 at 6700 and went to an altitude of 6950 to look at the Black Pyramid.

“Well, in order. From the Base (BC) to the beginning of the route it takes 2.5 hours At the beginning of the route there is an ABC camp (equipment tent, some spend the night). Beginning – a snowy steep slope from a kilometer. During the day, it can break through with stones from above, it is better to leave early. We wanted to leave the camp at 4 am so that we could slip through the cold at the beginning of the route. But it started snowing at night. Breakfast was rescheduled 2 hours later. Bloated slightly. I decide to go. First along the moraine, then along the glacier, then along the icefall. They put up the poles. We went under the route. The beginning has already been pierced by wet avalanches, you need to go just along the removal. 

“After the first camp, the ropes are already starting. Station on the C grade. With a minus. 🙂 I did not expect anything else, to be honest. Traditionally – photos “before” and “after” me In the middle of the route there is a piece of 100 meters in the snow without points. And just there it flies. Either someone was digging a site for a tent in Camp1, or someone was walking from above … In short, it flew. If a piece of ice flies 200-300 meters in the head, then no options. And if a stone, then even more so. In short, it was very dumb. C1 is awkward. We used to set up 5-7 tents, now it costs 14 !!! Between the tents you walk with your seatbelts on, it is very easy to fly away. Self-belaying to the toilet. All days the weather was perfect. At 4:30 in the morning it is already light, at 6:00 in the morning it is already hot in the tent. The team is great. We walk calmly, at the same pace. In general, cool and comfortable. And if it is already normal for Everest when the Sherpas overrun the jumar to their clients, then this is out of the question. It’s cool here. All fighters. All by yourself. What’s up, what’s down. The views are super. On Broad Peak and on the Baltoro Glacier, just flames. The sunsets are bombastic. But as soon as the camp is in the shade at 5pm, immediately space cold.”

5th July

Olga Koroleva

“So, after 6 days of boring hiking we finally got to the K2 Base Camp (16,700 ft). Only 4 expeditions are attempting this year and the camp feels deserted. 

“The plan is to rest and acclimatize for the next three days and go on our first rotation to Camp 1.

“And for now, the days are lazy, the food is great and I am starting to suspect I will end up gaining weight from all the chapati.”

4th July

Valik Sypavin

“On June 4 Troika Sipavin, Sidorenko, Dmitry Logachev went to explore the glacier.

“It is not customary here to walk on the glacier bound. One guy has already fallen into the crack, but not deep. So we are with a rope 🙂 There are no poles and tourists on the glacier. It is difficult to navigate at night, in fog or after a snowfall. I had to build about 50 turiks, I stretched the stones notably. Now the path is clear and understandable 🙂 On the way back with Pasha, we found a lot of artifacts on the glacier. The brightest is a piece of a BASK membrane jacket… The events of the Russian expedition of 2006 came to mind right away… And they also found a piece of the tent of the international Antarctic expedition of 1990, even with the flag of the USSR.

“It is becaming interesting, we have internet, google what kind of expedition has that?…

“In the evening the Mountain opened. Everyone ran out to take photos, videos and time-lapses. We will spread it as the Internet appears.

“In the evening, the guys gave us a chicken kebab. Anyway, the food here is great.”

3rd July

Valik Sypavin

“Hello everyone! We are already in the base camp of the second highest peak in the World – Mount K2. Height 8611 meters.

“In terms of the combination of difficult and dangerous sections, combined with the height, this mountain is considered the most difficult in the world. Yes, the mountain is really impressive. Big, harsh, snowy… The weather does not indulge here either… There are few teams, the ropes are still fixed only to Camp 1. Well, we are ready.

“Many people know that I am not particularly fond of writing from expeditions before the assault. .. But friends and acquaintances ask for more posts, photos, information “we are very interested in how it is on K2″. So I have an idea. To increase the number of subscribers, views and generally the popularity of our @alpomania page, I decided to post all the information there. The first post is coming soon !!! The expedition will not be boring, I promise!”

“The current situation is like this. 4 teams: Karakoram Expeditions, Madison, Jasmin and our Alpomania-Pioneer.

“The ropes are fixed up to C1 and another 200 meters. In the meantime, we are resting, We have lots of rope and equipment as do not want to be fully reliant on others. We will help where we can.”

2nd June

Vladimir Belkovich

“If I had been told 5 years ago that I would go to K2 I would have laughed in his face. Where am I, and where is K2?! A year ago, I wouldn’t have laughed, because there was a specific plan. A month ago, after Ama, I was already mentally prepared. But the Covid situation almost left no chance to organize everything. However, the stars have gathered: flights, crossings, 5 days trek across Baltoro Glacier – and this is the first time I see K2. I can’t believe this is all happening in reality.”

29th June

“We are in Pakistan. Flew in. And even already in Skardu. I have never had a more rigid and vaguely unpredictable gathering for an expedition. Feeling and tense, it was the most difficult part of the expedition… Lockdowns, quarantines, Ukraine on the “C” list for Pakistan (when even with a vaccine and a visa you cannot enter without a special permit), cancellation of tickets, incomprehensible with the departure of Sherpas, tickets 3 days before departure… Now you can exhale a little. I wanted to write “and announce the expedition” but no, there will be no official announcements. The mountain is difficult, there are few people this year.

“We are ready. With acclimatization, two kilometers of ropes, dozens of anchors from @krukonogi and @ johnnnn1978 Boers @blackdiamond_ukraine, sausage and bacon… Our luggage with Pasha tightened only 150 kg … And as Pavel Shabalin once said that you shouldn’t climb on mountain without courage, then we have it.”

 


Links

Valik Sypavin

Alpomania

Vladimir Belkovich

Olga Koroleva