The Pakistani team by Karakorum Expeditions, together with Juan Pablo Toro of Argentina, has made the only summits on Broad Peak so far, and they used a variation route that they consider faster and safer.
The team leader named the route after himself – Mirza Ali Legacy Route. However, comments among the worldwide mountaineering community suggest that the line looks very similar to the one opened by Mexico’s Carlos Carsolio during his 1994 solo. For chronicler Rodrigo Granzotto of Brazil, the line climbed by the Pakistanis is simply the upper section of Carsolio’s route, which was used again by an Iranian group in 2013.
Mirza Ali Legacy Route topo, as shared by the Karakorum Expedition team in a press release.
Pakistani climbers on the top of Broad Peak on July 19. Photo: Karakorum Expeditions
The apex of a career
Carsolio climbed alone and without oxygen. He has often called that ascent the apex of his climbing career, his own work of art. In his report for the American Alpine Journal, Carsolio described mixed terrain and some vertical rock pitches that finally carried him meters away from Broad Peak’s foresummit. From there, he continued to the main summit.
The Mexican didn’t attach a topo of his route, but an Iranian team that climbed Broad Peak in 2013 provided a useful map of Carsolio’s route, their line, and the normal route on Broad Peak:
Routes on Broad Peak’s summit area. 1. Normal route; 2. Carlos Carsolio’s 1994 solo route. 3. Iranian 2013 route. The red “x” is the place where a member of the Iranian team went missing along Carsolio’s line on their first summit try. Photo: AAJ
The Iranian team first attempted to summit by Carsolio’s line, but one of the members died during the attempt. Later, the team climbed via a different variation further to the east:
Broad Peak summit area and its routes, compiled by the Iranian 2013 team for the American Alpine Journal. (A) Broad Peak North. (B) Broad Peak Central. (C) Broad Peak Rocky Foresummit. (D) Broad Peak. 1. West-Northwest ridge, first climbed in 1984 by Kukuczka and Kurtyka to start their traverse of the three main summits via the skyline ridge, marked 3. Other routes: 2. West Couloir, first ascended in 2010 by Inurrategi, Vallejo, and Zabalza, who first climbed Broad Peak North, then traversed the skyline toward Broad Peak. 4. West-Northwest ridge, 2008. 5. Normal route, as climbed today (first ascent unknown, though climbed to nearly 7,000m in 1954). 6. Original line (1957). 7. West-Southwest spur (1994, repeated by Iranians in 2009). 8. Iranian route (2013). Photo: Ramin Sohaei
We are trying to contact Carlos Carsolio and Mirza Ali for comments.
Klein still hopeful
David Klein of Hungary, who was the only climber in the July 19 group without a personal porter or supplemental oxygen, followed the group for 19 hours but finally retreated from 50 to 70m below the actual summit block. Klein noted that four of the Pakistani team’s 12 members reached the actual summit: two rope fixers on oxygen, and Juan Pablo Toro of Argentina no-O2, but accompanied by a high-altitude porter on oxygen.
Klein is back in Base Camp and not ready to leave yet. As he told his home team, if the weather improves, he may give the summit another try.
He will not be alone: The Moving Mountains team, comprising Pakistani Sohail Sakhi and his client, Mallory Geis of the UK, is also there. They are acclimatized, with a tent and gear cached in Camp 3, and are ready for a summit push as soon as weather allows. The Imagine Nepal team has climbers hoping to summit Broad Peak, and some may also aim for K2 and try Broad Peak first.
