On the sixth day of the Czechs’ summit push on Muchu Chhish, Radoslav Groh and Tomas Petrecek are just one day from the summit. But they are exhausted, running out of supplies, and the weather has turned bad.
Yesterday, Petrecek and Groh left their tent at 7,400m and headed for the unclimbed ridge. But after an hour, the fog was so thick that they could barely see each other. Eventually, they turned around. Despite the whiteout, the climbers found their way back to their tent, thanks to their GPS. By then, it had started to snow.
Pavel Korinek is still on his way up to meet Groh and Petrecek for the final effort. Korinek had gone down with Pawel Bem, ill with Acute Mountain Sickness, two days earlier. He then went back up to rejoin his comrades.
We’ve had no updates about Groh’s state of health. Earlier, the Czech was also showing symptoms of AMS.
Tomas Petrecek while acclimatizing on Spantik. Photo: Tomas Petrecek/Facebook
K7 Central and Badal Peak
On July 14, Jeff and Priti Wright reached Hushe and began their trek to K7 Central. Their arrival coincided with good weather. They should be about to reach Base Camp.
Jeff and Priti Wright last weekend in Hushe. Photo: Alpine Vagabonds
They will not be alone. A French team outfitted by High Mountain Treks & Tours is on its way to Badal Peak (6,100m), a subpeak on the southwest side of K7 West. This rocky spire has had some lines previously opened on its granite walls, as described in this AAJ article.
The French team includes Florent Dulac, Damien Lacaze Labadie, and Benoit Montfort. Below, in bold green, the route they intend to climb, according to the outfitter.
The French team will climb the bold green line up Badal Peak, a subpeak of K7 West. Photo: High Mountain Treks & Tours
The topo shows the routes opened on the SW side of Badal Peak (A). (B) is Jeff and Priti Wright’s goal — K7 Middle (6,858m, unclimbed). (C) is K7 Main (6,934m). Photo: Katasukata Yokoyama/American Alpine Journal
Gasherbrum I
Denis Urubko and Pipi Cardell are back at Gasherbrum Base Camp after reaching 6,500m on Gasherbrum I’s normal route. They are using the regular route to acclimatize before attempting a new alpine-style line on the mountain. Their next excursion will be to 7,200m on the normal route. That will be their final preparation.
The pair started on the mountain many days before the commercial expeditions arrived. Their next acclimatization round, though, will not be so lonely. Kristin Harila and the sherpas reached 7,000m today, and other climbers followed.
