Denis Urubko is underway in a wintery and exceptionally dry Karakoram. Today, he reached Goro II camp at 4,000m, two days away from Gasherbrum Base Camp.
Urubko left Skardu on Jan. 12 after a couple of days acclimatizing on peaks near town. He is now heading to Base Camp at a relaxed pace. His convoy numbers 15 people, including porters and camp staff.
The team reached Kobutse Camp, located in front of the Trango Towers, on Monday. Yesterday, they reached Urdukas and today they made it to Goro II. The next stop will surely be Concordia, before the final stage to Base Camp.
View from Goro II, the first camp on the Baltoro Glacier. Photo: Denis Urubko
An unusually dry Karakoram
On the way, the team reported extremely dry conditions. It is cold and windy, but they only saw the first snowflakes en route to Goro II earlier today.
Urubko intends to start his winter ascent of Gasherbrum I in February. He will rope up with local climber Hassan Shigri to traverse the heavily crevassed Gasherbrum glacier to 6,500m. From there, Urubko will launch a solo, alpine-style attempt on the mountain. It is not clear whether he will acclimatize any further before the final push.
