Climbers have reached Base Camp by the Gasherbrums, and some are already moving up. In particular, Marco Confortola, who aims to make Gasherbrum I his 12th 8,000’er, has wasted no time. He has hurried up to Camp 1 for a first night at altitude.
He brought bamboo sticks to mark the way across the glacier and pitched his tent at nearly 6,000m, according to his home team.
Marco Confortola, some days ago during the approach trek. Photo: Marco Confortola
The Catalan Altitude Team also arrived at Base Camp yesterday. They mentioned that they would lose the 4G signal after leaving Concordia, so communication will now rely solely on satphones. The Gasherbrum trek follows the trek to K2 BC until that point, and as we reported this past spring, K2 is now online.
The Pakistani team of Sirbaz Khan, Naila Kiani, and Ali Raza were approaching Base Camp at the same pace as the Catalans. They are likely there now as well.
In the unstable weather of the last few days, light snow has alternated with sunny periods. Hopefully, Confortola will soon report about conditions on the glacier, which is usually quite broken. Climbers must cross the glacier to access both Gasherbrum I and II.
