The Madison Mountaineering team has announced a summit push as their team leaves Base Camp on Broad Peak. However, they have not provided even a tentative summit date, given the unclear weather forecasts and delayed rope-fixing work.
This year, Madison Mountaineering is focusing most of its efforts on K2, and has just one client, supported by a Sherpa team, on Broad Peak. Earlier today, the client and their Sherpas departed for Camp 2 and plan to reach Camp 3 tomorrow, weather permitting.
No-O2 climbers
Lukasz Supergan of Poland, climbing without supplementary oxygen, is on the opposite timeline: he reached Camp 3 last weekend and returned to Base Camp yesterday. According to the forecasts he is using, weather conditions will remain bad for the next few days. “There is a possible window from July 27 to July 30,” he noted.
Lukasz Supergan on Broad Peak. Photo: Lukasz Supergan
Vibeke Sefland of Norway, also without oxygen, followed a similar itinerary on her second (and final) rotation before the summit push. On Sunday, she reached Camp 2 at 6,100m in “wet, slidy snow.” Yesterday, she continued toward Camp 3 and then retreated to Base Camp.
Laura Mares of Romania also spent a night in Camp 2 last weekend, reached Camp 3 the following morning, and returned to Base Camp when bad weather settled on the mountain again.
Teams on Broad Peak and K2 are reporting poor weather, though it is not too cold. Rains are frequent this year at Base Camp.
No ropes on the ridge
It is also worth bearing in mind the state of the ropes. Karakorum Expeditions has a team on the mountain, carrying ropes to fix the final sections, and mending some anchors between Camp 1 and Camp 3 that have become loose over the last two weeks of bad weather.
A rope-fixer with Karakorum Expeditions on Broad Peak. Photo: Karakorum Expeditions
Karakorum Expeditions say they have repaired the route up to Camp 3. At approximately 7,000m, it is usually the uppermost camp set on Broad Peak. They have also stocked bottles of oxygen there.
However, there is still a long way to the summit. The route goes up from Camp 3 to a big col, and then follows a very long ridge across several ups and downs and secondary points, until it reaches the main summit. Commercial teams need most of these final sections to be fixed with ropes. Otherwise, they can get stuck, as happened in 2021 with tragic results.
Karakorum Expeditions also plan to start their summit push this week, after one or two days’ rest in Base Camp. With them is Sabrina Filzmoser, supported by Zaman Karim. According to the team’s latest update on Sunday, they were in Camp 3.
