K2 and Broad Peak in 2006
K2oo6 WorldClimb Dispatches
Broad Peak and K2
Karakorum Home | Climbing Home
Karakorum Highway |Faces of the Karakorum |Baltoro Glacier |Climbing Broad Peak |K2-Broad Peak Pictures
Live Dispatches | Essay: Why K2 | Essay: Why I Climb
Expedition FAQ | Climbing FAQ
SummitPost-K2 |SummitPost-Broad Peak | GoogleEarth | Weather | Guides | Local Info

I always wanted to visit the Himalayas in Pakistan. The mountains are legendary: Gasherbrum I,Gasherbrum II, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak and, of course, K2. The view from the confluence of three glaciers at Concordia is live postcard few get to see in person. In the summer of 2006, along with a team managed by Field Touring Alpine (FTA), I attempted Broad Peak (26,401') and planned to make a good effort on K2 (28,250').

I reached 21,000' on Broad or Camp 2 before abandoning the climb due to weakness that resulted from a severe bug I contracted on the trek in. The Karakorum ranges was magnificent and I was very lucky to have unbelievable weather for the month I spent there.

I sent frequent dispatches using a system that includes a digital camera, PDA and sat phone.

Click here for the dispatch home and videos

« You expect to have a bad day while climbing but not on the trek in! | Dispatch Home | Expedition Audio Dispatches »

Click here for the dispatch home and videos

Concordia

Posted on June 13, 2006 06:22 AM U.S. Mountain Daylight Time

I arrived at Concordia this morning along with Kurt, Di and Ian. It was as spectacular as I had hoped. It is about 14,800' - 4884m so we have a few headaches but I believe everyone on the team is well.

I hope all my stomach bugs are behind me and am feeling 100% better. I am still taking 500mg of Cipro every 6 hours so whatever is in there has no chance! The trek up the Baltero Glacier has it's high and low points. Sometimes it can be mind-numbingly boring. Hour after hour you focus on the step in front of you to avoid a small crevasse or a loose rock. But then you look up and it all comes back as to why you are here. The mountains are simply stunning.

It has snowed on and off the last few days so most have a fresh white coat that makes for a stunning contrast when the sky is blue. Concordia may sound like a town or village but it actually just a spot on the glacier where teams set up tents. There is a Pakistani Military camp a few hundred yards away.

Actually there are many military camps on the glacier and we saw small teams with rifles going up and down the area on the trek into Concordia. I had a great conversation with one military man who told me that Pakistan and America are good friends. If I was ever concerned about my safety from the bad guys up here, it is now gone.

Actually all I have to worry about is the bad bugs! From Concordia we can see Mitre Peak, Marble Peak and of course Broad Peak and K2. The clouds have covered Broad most of today but I did get a quick shot of K2. It is huge! Both mountains are huge! This place is huge! Well you get the Idea. The rest of the team is at Broad Peak Base Camp (BP-BC) and we will join them tomorrow.

We are already getting our weather forecast from Adventure Weather so the time has come to start making plans to establish Camp 1. We understand that an Australian and an Austrian team have already establish C3 on BP so this is excellent news as they most likely have fixed some of the route. I am sure we will have to give them something for these efforts! OK, this is all for now. Hopefully more tomorrow from BP-BC!

Climb on! Alan


Warning: include(): https:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_include=0 in /home/51/90/2909051/web/dispatches/k2bp/2006/06/concordia_1.php on line 189

Warning: include(https://www.alanarnette.com/core/footer.php): failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/51/90/2909051/web/dispatches/k2bp/2006/06/concordia_1.php on line 189

Warning: include(): Failed opening 'https://www.alanarnette.com/core/footer.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php') in /home/51/90/2909051/web/dispatches/k2bp/2006/06/concordia_1.php on line 189