It is a quieter summer than usual in Pakistan, but climbers are still trickling to the base camps at K2, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums. On Broad Peak, in particular, the rope fixing is progressing, and the first summits could even occur next week, if the forecast of bad weather is wrong.
Another unusual feature of this season: Several climbers are going without supplemental oxygen or personal Sherpa support on these Pakistan 8,000’ers. The modest number of climbers overall makes their attempts more prominent.
Broad Peak
David Klein of Hungary and Ian Overton of the U.S. were the first foreigners to arrive at Broad Peak. At Camp 1, they met a rope-fixing team from Karakorum Expeditions. The Pakistanis fixed the route to Camp 2, and then, on a second trip, to Camp 3.
The rope fixers are currently resting in Base Camp but confirmed that the next time they go up, they plan to reach the summit. Meanwhile, Klein and Overton, who are climbing without supplemental oxygen, are on their second acclimatization round. Once they return and rest, they too should be ready for a summit push.
The weather might delay summit moves, however. Multimedia forecasts show stormy weather in the Karakoram next week.
Sohail Sakhi is also on his way to Broad Peak to guide Mallory Geis of the U.S. Sakhi was part of the rope-fixing team on Kangchenjunga last spring. An advocate of no-O2 climbing, he will use supplemental O2 for the first time on Broad Peak because he is responsible for his client.
Geis has climbed several 6,000m mountains in Nepal and met Sakhi on one of them. Now she is trusting his know-how on her first 8,000m experience. Broad Peak is the only Pakistani giant that Sohail Sakhi has not yet summited. Previously, he reached the top of both Gasherbrums, Nanga Parbat, and K2, all without supplemental oxygen. Read an interview with Sakhi, a mathematician turned climber from Pakistan’s Hunza Valley, here.
Gasherbrums
A group of climbers outfitted by Seven Summit Treks has reached the Base Camp of the Gasherbrums after over a week trekking up the Baltoro. Most of them plan to climb without oxygen or Sherpa support, so they stopped for a couple of days on the approach trek to acclimatize more gradually.
Gasherbrum Base Camp. Photo: Horia Colibasanu
Horia Colibasanu of Romania and a group of Spaniards reached Base Camp yesterday. Today, they are venturing onto the tricky Gasherbrum Glacier, on a day trip to acclimatize or to study conditions on the ice. This glacier at the foot of the Gasherbrums has become one of the main challenges of the climb. Climate change has seriously worsened conditions, and now climbers have to deal with slushy, slippery snow and many crevasses.
The climbers will also share base camp with teams aiming to open new routes or climb alpine-style in the massif, such as Ales Cezen and Lukas Woerle, who will attempt to traverse Gasherbrum I, and the Austrian-Italian-French team, which has a permit for Gasherbrum II and possibly Gasherbrum IV.
K2
Not many climbers have confirmed their plans to climb the world’s second-highest peak. Of those who have, Gian Luca Cavalli of Italy and Ecuadorian Santiago Quintero both intend to summit K2 without supplemental oxygen. Cavalli reached the top of Nanga Parbat without O2 on July 1.
K2 from Concordia. Photo: Spantik Expeditions
