Waiting in the Karakoram has ended: An optimistic new forecast has set everyone on the move on K2. The few remaining climbers on Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums are also moving up, although in unclear conditions.
Mingma G of Imagine Nepal announced the surprise move just one day after other climbers in the area reported a poor forecast until at least next weekend.
July 31 is the day
“At first light tomorrow, our climbers stationed across K2, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum I will launch their summit bids from their base camps,” Mingma G posted on social media yesterday. “We anticipate that our climbers will successfully summit all three 8,000m peaks…on the very same day, July 31.”
Mingma Gyalgje Sherpa, aka Mingma G. Photo: Imagine Nepal
Yesterday, Sergey Kondrashkin of Russia posted that the next weather window wouldn’t arrive until August 1. But a new forecast has set everyone in motion.
Juan Pablo Toro of Argentina, who recently summited Broad Peak, confirmed Mingma G’s group left K2 Base Camp today. Toro will head up slightly later.
“The Seven Summit Treks team will leave tomorrow, and I (climbing with Karakorum Expeditions) will probably start the summit climb on July 29,” he told Alpymon.
Mingma G is apparently leading the way before any other team on Pakistan’s 8,000’ers. He used the same strategy on Gasherbrum II last week after Seven Summit Treks’ Sherpas retreated, reportedly due to bad conditions and lack of ropes. Mingma’s Imagine Nepal and Nirmal Purja’s EliteExped led a second summit push on GII that topped out successfully on July 21.
Gasherbrum II
On Gasherbrum II, only one group of guided climbers remains. It is reportedly heading up on a last-chance summit push. All the independent climbers on the mountain — those using fixed ropes but not oxygen or Sherpa support — have aborted their attempts. The same is true on neighboring Hidden Peak (Gasherbrum I), except for Felix Berg of Germany and a low-profile team led by Francois Cazzanelli of Italy.
Cazzanelli is climbing with Etienne Janin and Stefano Stradelli of Italy, and Egon Egger and Benjamin Zorer of Austria, according to outfitter Blue Sky Treks & Tours. The team reportedly had a permit for Gasherbrum IV as well, but they have not updated their plans. They summited Gasherbrum II on July 21, the same day as the EliteExped and Imagine Nepal groups, but they only shared their news today.
The latest to call off their attempt were Ignacio Barrio and Uxue Murolas of Spain. “There’s 40cm of fresh snow at Camp 1, and we believe it will be pretty dangerous further up. Besides, the weather forecast is bad,” they told ExplorersWeb yesterday after returning to Base Camp.
They confirmed that a small group of guided clients remained in Camp 1, including a “Qatari princess” — likely Asma Al Thani, whom Nirmal Purja has often guided in the past. However, the Spanish pair insisted that conditions are far from ideal.
Gasherbrum I
Santiago Quintero of Ecuador is heading for the summit of Gasherbrum I, together with Sajid Sadpara of Pakistan. He checked in today from Camp 2 and reported good progress despite very hot weather.
