Winter K2 Update

The big news from the week was that they fixed the ropes to the traditional Camp2. More teams arrived at base camp while others are making steady progress on the trek

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa with two Sherpa teammates fixed the ropes to the traditional Camp 2 on the Abruzzi Spur. Mingma confirmed to me directly they climbed through House’s Chimney. It had been incorrectly reported by some other sites that they stopped below the Chimney.

Icelander John Snorri Sigurjonsson with Muhammad Ali Sadpara and his son Sajid Ali seemed satisfied to stay at Base Camp after they fixed the ropes to Camp 1 last week.

Seven Summits Treks is on their third day of trekking. Of note, the “road” from Skardu used to stop at Askole but appears to have been extended to the camp at Jhole. I confirmed this directly with Dawa Sherpa who is leading the SST expedition and basically providing base camp services for almost every on K2 this season. You can see the 4WD next to the tents in this picture courtesy of Dawa. This cuts the trek down by one day.

Last count the SST team consisted of more than 20+ foreign climbers, more than 12 Climbing Sherpas, 6+ kitchen staff, plus over 30+ base camp staff supported by over 175 hired porters to get their gear to Base Camp. There are still climbers arriving in Islamabad so some of these numbers will increase. A lot of the gear such as tents and rope was previously carried by the amazing Balti porters to BC a few weeks ago!

Nirmal Purja Purja Purja Purja and his Sherpa team arrived at Base Camp.

The weather looks pretty good right now, so I expect a lot of rope fixing, perhaps through the Black Pyramid over the next six to ten days.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything