Posted: May 12, 2009 01:57 am EST
(MountEverest.net/K2Climb.net) After surprising the Himalayan climbing community by summiting Shisha and Everest (no O2) within one month in 2005; Gerfried Göschl went for the yet undone Broad Peak/K2 double-header in 2007.

He succeeded on Broad but K2's avalanches chased him off. This summer the Austrian climber is coming back to Karakoram, with a vengeance.

Just married, Ger will lead a large team in an attempt on K2 after Nanga Parbat. Moreover, he hopes to climb both peaks via new routes. It's said that preparation is half way there, and that's Gerfried's approach exactly.

Here goes the first part of ExWeb's interview with the mountaineer:

ExplorersWeb: You will lead a strong group for Nanga Parbat and K2 this summer. Who are the members?

Gerfried Göschl: They are long time mates from expeditions I organized before. We are like an old family of close friends and tent partners, and everybody know each other.

There is Günther Unterberger, Hans Goger, Louis Rousseau from Canada, Dr. Günther Straub, 58 years old mountain guide Kilian Volken from Switzerland, Ronnie, the silent brothers Hans and Georg, the old master Kölblinger, Dr. Pete, Joelle, Giuseppe, Adriano and so many more.

I’m really happy and proud to lead such a big and strong group. We have more than fifty 8000er summits together. There is also a small, independent group of Scottish Himalaya veterans Sandy Allan and Rick Allen. I think we are an interesting mix of energetic, young climbers and experienced elders.

ExplorersWeb: You hope to climb a new route on Nanga's North-West face with Günther Unterberger, Hans Goger and Louis Rousseau. What are the specifics in terms of line, style, acclimatization and gear?

Gerfried: The whole team of around 20 members will first acclimatize and establish camps on the Kinshofer route up to 6800 meters.

After that we hope to get an acceptable weather window to fulfill our biggest dream: a completely un-attempted new route in very light alpine style. We'll use only 60 meters of very thin rope from New England, ultra-light tents from Black Diamond (thanks Louis for both :-), very thin sleeping bags and other basic gear from my long-time sponsor Northland Professional. Gloves from RAB, only 2 pitons and 2 ice-screws etc. We want to carry as little as possible.

Weather forecasts will be provided by the famous weather guru Dr. Charly Gabl from Innsbruck and Muhammad Hanif from Pakistan, both well known men. Our MD Günther Straub is specialized in high altitude and sports medicine. He gave us lots of important training tips; such as to try and have a VO2max near 70.

Preparation is long, hard work for a difficult climb like this. I researched it for nearly three months, and compared around 2000 pictures to find the possibility of this new line. We did our best in the last year and a half to try and optimize all items which are planable. We don’t want to leave anything to chance.

ExplorersWeb: You also hope to give K2 a new line with Louis and Jorge Egocheaga. What is the plan for this climb?

Gerfried: Everest researcher Jochen Hemmleb provided me with some good K2 pictures and I found an interesting route.

After hopefully a Nanga success and the acclimatization gained there, Louis and I along with friends like Ronnie, Giuseppe and Joelle want to hurry to K2.

K2 is not a goal to joke around with. We have a clear plan, but want to decide the final only once in BC. Jorge, who climbed Nanga already in 2005, will be there some weeks before us with some friends and study the conditions.

Maybe the mountain will give us a chance. Of course we want to put into action the same light style of Nanga, only this time one floor higher :-)

ExplorersWeb: You attempted a Broad Peak/K2 double in 2007. Broad Peak was first summited by 4 Austrians and you climbed it to commemorate the 50 year anniversary. On K2 however you aborted above C3 on K2’s Abruzzi Spur (together with Kilian Volken, Günter Unterberger and Ronald Newerkla) due to deep snow on the route. What will you do different this time?

Train harder, just to be ready when a real chance comes up. Although we attempted the mountain twice in 2007 and had no chance at all back then, even if we had been stronger.

ExplorersWeb: How did you come up with the current double header idea?

Gerfried: Beaten by excess snow and high avalanche danger on K2; Günther, Louis, Kilian, Ronnie and I didn’t feel to have lost but were impressed by our good teamwork.

We began to plan our next project immediately on the trek back. We are all suffering for Nanga, but also for K2, so the plan was born before our return home. But please don’t tell our families :-)

ExplorersWeb: What do you think went wrong on K2 last year?

Gerfried: I know this mountain and the rules at play on the peaks. There will be a certain risk even with the best experience. Therefore I don’t want to put official blames, and it’s also not how I handle people and their families. In my opinion, nobody can form a judgment thousands of miles from the accident.

ExplorersWeb: You planned to try the Kinshofer Route on Nanga Parbat in the winter of 2004/2005 with your brother plus Pakistan climbers Hasil Shah and Mehrban Shah. How do you feel about the recent winter climbs/attempts on Makalu and Broad Peak?

Gerfried: My brother’s wife got pregnant so we had to scrub the expedition before it started. Lots of vacation-time and allowance from my girlfriend made me plan a new project; soon the Shisha Pangma and Everest double header without oxygen and porters was born.

I followed both winter expeditions at ExWeb and was impressed by the success of Simone and Denis. Truly a big thing they did!! I did send my ungrudging congrats to Simone.

ExplorersWeb: Do you have any plans for another 8000er winter ascent?

Gerfried: If my life allows it, I want to attempt G1 or G2 in winter, we’ll see :-)

ExplorersWeb: You made headlines on ExplorersWeb in spring 2005, when you summited Shisha Pangma and Everest w/o O2 in under a month. How hard was Everest w/o 02?

Gerfried: Well 2005 is a special story. When I said that I wanted to do both mountains in one season in light style, I think only my brother and dad believed I could do it.

After I summited Shisha on May 3d I didn't feel weaker but instead my motivation had grown. Everest turned out truly harder especially as it was a cold year for 'No Oxygeners'. I needed two attempts and summited late in the season - on June 1st - a day when no one else reached the top, neither from the north or from the south side.

A night-long storm hit my C2 at 7850m but I felt that it would die down at sunrise and so it was. I left my tent a bit late, at 5 am :-)

I didn’t meet a single soul during the whole day, and had to break trail in knee deep snow above 8700 meters. This almost stopped me and I didn't reach the summit until 5:30 pm. But my dream had come through: I stood on the highest point of the world, in clear sunny weather, in light style, completely alone. It was my biggest personal sporting moment and there were a few tears.

Afterwards I didn't remember the ascent as too hard, because my motivation was so high. The descent was more exhausting and difficult, but that's another story :-)

ExWeb Interview with Gerfried Göschl, final: Family matters

Gerfried Göschl (35) lives in Liezen, Austria. His first 8000er summits were Cho Oyu (2002) and GII (2003). In 2005 he summited Shisha Pangma’s main summit and Everest without O2 within a month. In 2007 he attempted a Broad Peak/K2 double header – he summited Broad, but failed to reach K2’s top due to deep snow and high risk of avalanche.

This summer Gerfried is setting off on a new double-header: Nanga Parbat and K2. Moreover, he intends to climb new routes on both mountains. Gerfried will lead a large group mostly comprising former mates from past expeditions. Dr. Günther Straub is Co-leader.

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