Andrzej Bargiel and Anna Tybor, both from Poland, carved some impressive ski tracks this week. Bargiel and his team skied from the summit of Gasherbrum II. Meanwhile, Tybor skied down Broad Peak over two days.
On Gasherbrum II, Bargiel topped out and skied all the way back to Base Camp yesterday, thereby notching a complete descent. He and his team will now rest at least two days before repeating the feat on Gasherbrum I.
Anna Tybor. Photo: Facebook
Anna Tybor summited Broad Peak yesterday at 5 pm and was back in Base Camp today at 2 pm. That suggests that she stopped at a high camp for the night. Tom Lafaille supported her.
Horrible weather on Broad Peak
A constant trickle of climbers summited Broad Peak yesterday and today. Among them, Pakistanis Sajid Sadpara (yesterday) and Naila Kiani. Kiani left yesterday night, snatching a little more rest, and summited today. But the delay forced her to deal with weather that, as predicted, turned for the worse today.
“It turned for the horrible,” is how she put it.
She and her Nepali guide, Phur Sherpa, were the only ones to summit today, she said.
“The descent from the summit back to Camp 3 was harder than my descent to Camp 3 [last year] on G1,” Kiani admitted.
In 2022 on Gasherbrum I, Kiani encouraged her two partners, Sirbaz Khan and Sohail Sakhi — who were exhausted and affected by altitude after summiting without supplementary oxygen — to keep descending, despite the bad weather.
Naila Kiani received quite a reception from local media after returning from the summit of Nanga Parbat some weeks ago. Photo: Naila Kiani/Facebook
Both Sajid Sadpara and Naila Kiani are now back in Base Camp and have completed all the 8,000’ers in Pakistan.
Harila’s logistics
In the Gasherbrums, Kristin Harila‘s approach to logistics has apparently given others ideas. Nima Rinji Sherpa, the son of Seven Summit Treks’ CEO Tashi Lakpa Sherpa — Harila’s outfitter — says he wants to climb all the 8,000’ers in record time and at a record age. He is only 17, but he has joined Harila’s team on several of her recent ascents.
He summited Gasherbrum I with Harila on Tuesday. Then from Camp 1, he set off right away up Gasherbrum II, which he summited yesterday with Pasang Nurbu Sherpa.
The peak baggers next go to Broad Peak, where Harila has scheduled a July 23 summit. Then finally, on to K2.
Self-sufficient climbers
There are also numerous independent climbers on the Gasherbrums. They use no high-altitude porters or supplementary oxygen. Many are well-rested and acclimatized after Nanga Parbat. Among them is Saulius Damulevicious of Lithuania, who is currently above Camp 3 on his summit push. Hopefully, this time he will not have to sacrifice his summit to help climbers in trouble.
Saulius Damulevicius. Photo: Facebook
Hugo Ayaviri of Bolivia, also climbing independently, summited Gasherbrum II yesterday. Back in Camp 1, he is now resting while considering Gasherbrum I. Ayaviri reached the summit of Nanga Parbat some weeks ago, as well as K2 without oxygen last year.
