The jet stream continues to hit the upper slopes of K2, and supplies are beginning to run low, but a dogged group of climbers still waits for their chance to dash to the summit. So far, no one has reached the top this year because of horrendous weather.
“Even though hope is fading, we don’t give up,” said Lenka Polackova of Slovakia. “We still believe that the summit window will come.”
They check the forecasts each day, but there is never good news. If an improvement is to come, it has to come soon.
Tents in Camp 1 last week. Photo: Serge Hardy
Repairs below Camp 1
Meanwhile, Imagine Nepal’s staff and Vinajak Malla from Elite Exped are doing their best to keep the route in good shape, at least on the lower part of the mountain, below the jet stream. Last weekend, Malla and Jangbu Sherpa of Nepal, with Sohail Sakhi of Pakistan, replaced the ropes on the way to Camp 1.
“They removed the previously fixed plastic rope with a better one,” Imagine Nepal’s leader Mingma G reported.
Like his clients, Mingma G continues to wait for acceptable weather. “We have plenty of time,” he said. “There is still the jet stream on K2, but the snow conditions are perfectly okay.”
Mingma G, right, with client Jing Guan of China at K2 Base Camp. Photo: Jing Guan
There are also independent climbers in Base Camp, most of whom want to climb K2 without oxygen, collaborating with the commercial teams.
Dead cow mystery
“An individual ascent is unrealistic, and the rope-fixing to the summit depends on agreements between the remaining agencies, and the weather,” Lenka Polackova wrote last weekend. Polackova, a no-O2 Everest summiter, noted the negative aspects of not having the same clear policy about rope-fixing that they do in Nepal.
Polackova also mentioned that supplies are becoming scarcer every day.
“Vegetables and fruit haven’t arrived for two weeks,” she said. “We haven’t figured out where they’re storing the dead cow that we’re gradually eating. We’d rather not even look for it anymore.”
Israfil Ashurli trekked down the Baltoro Valley some days ago, but according to the Alpymon blog, he is now back in Base Camp.
Janice Rot of Chile, another independent climber, reported last weekend on rumors of a possible weather window opening between August 6 and August 10. “That will be the last round of the game,” she said.
Uncertain conditions
The Chilean, also planning a no-oxygen climb, admitted she will only decide at the last moment whether to go or not. Even if the weather improves, climbers worry about the conditions they might find above Camp 3.
“The question is no longer to go higher, but to descend without injuries,” said Serge Hardy of France. “The terrain is mined, and the fixed ropes are in a rather pitiful state.”
