The snow finally stopped falling in the middle of last week, triggering a wave of climbing on all Pakistan’s 8000’ers. Paces are different, though: A handful of Nanga Parbat climbers are slogging through waist-deep snow on a grueling push for the summit. Success may come as early as the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, it’s still a long way to the top of K2, Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums, but fixing Camps 1 and 2 on K2 and Broad Peak is going well. Summits on these peaks are not expected until the last days of July.
Sergi Mingote’s plan: Camp 3 today, Camp 4 tomorrow and the summit on Wednesday.
Nanga Parbat
A weather window has opened, and with it, a summit chance. Unfortunately, it opened too soon for Mingote’s climbing mate Mattia Conte, who elected to stay behind. So has the team’s porter, Ali Roze, laid low with Acute Mountain Sickness. “When things go wrong, the time comes to make decisions,” Sergi Mingote reported Saturday.
He then teamed up with one of his companions from Lhotse last month: Brazilian Moesses Fiamoncini, whose own porter unfortunately broke his hand while descending the Kinshoffer Wall some days ago.
“We have to replan our entire strategy,” Mingote said. “So we’re carrying a small tent to bivouac at Camps 3 and 4.” Camp 4 has not yet been set up.
Nanga Parbat is already overloaded with snow and is receiving more almost every evening, so theirs is a risky plan. But crazy or not, the other four expeditions in place, including the Italian-Russian skiers and the Ali Sadpara-Stefi Troguet duo, seem to like the idea and have joined forces. The collaborative global team is currently fighting its way up in tough conditions.
Yesterday, another snowstorm delayed their departure from Camp 2. They finally set off in the evening and struggled for every metre through fog and waist-deep snow. They climbed all night and finally reached Camp 3 (6,700m) after dawn. Their plan is to advance to Camp 4 (7,200m) tomorrow, then leave for the summit during the early hours of Wednesday. Stay tuned for updates.
Social media influencer Stefi Troguet, in stylish attire and with her signature perfect red lipstick, at Nanga Parbat’s Camp 2 yesterday.
The weather, at least, looks promising. Cala Cimenti’s meteorologist, Phillipo Thiery, forecasts good, stable weather between July 2-4. When Cimenti arrived at Camp 2 yesterday, he swore that he would never, ever climbed the Kinshoffer Wall again, and posted a cool video of the tent’s precarious location.
Meanwhile, Andorran “high-altitude instagrammer” Stefi Troguet posted another video and some pictures which prove that a) she has an expansive wardrobe of down suits in different colors, b) her red lipstick remains flawless under any circumstances and c) she moves up in deep snow as hard as anyone else and stays cheerful even in blizzards.
Meanwhile, in the Baltoro area…
Seven Summits Trek’s leader Dawa Sherpa spoke of 65 climbers on K2, “the largest team I’ve ever seen,” he said. It is unclear whether he meant that 65 were climbing with the Kathmandu-based outfitter, or that there were a total of 65 on the mountain.
Seven Summits Trek’s Base Camp tents at the foot of K2.
Mike Horn is back in Base Camp after reaching 6,000m. He posted a video of a rather jackass glissade from 6,000 to 5,000m. He claimed that it took only 6 minutes, despite Horn somersaulting (with crampons) near his companions.
Billi Bierling, climbing Broad Peak, reported good conditions today. “Half the team [is] in C2 at 6,100m; the other half at Camp 1,“ she wrote.
Meanwhile, a Polish team has set off toward the difficult Gasherbrum 6 (6,979m). Members are Jarosław Botor, Jerzy Natkański, Jacek Czech and Dominik Malirz.
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