Teams are steadily arriving at their respective base camps. Thus far it’s business as usual with unsettled weather – hot days, followed by snow storms. The rope fixing will begin on K2 and Broad Peak in a day or so, followed quickly by the first rotations.
Lukas Furtenbach with teams on K2 and Broad Peak reports in from BP:
Broad Peak update: Weather is finally improving after a week of snowfall and avalanches are already cleaning the slopes. Our team will start rope fixing to C2 in the next days so that the classic team can start their first rotation. Flash team is arriving to basecamp in 2 days. Our internet setup in basecamp is working great, a huge improvement for the inner Karakoram to stay connected. And for the trek to Concordia the Pakistani mobile telecom networks finally works really reliable.
@karakorumexpeditions advance team arrived at #k2basecamp in very bad weather conditions! Hats off to the porters,mull drivers and our strong team! After the setup of our base camp , accessing weather will start working on the rope fixing on K2!
And the Other 8000ers
While K2 gets a disproportionate amount of attention, the other four deserve an equal amount of attention.
Gasherbrum I/II
At 26,362’/8035m. GII is often considered the most attainable of the Karakoram’s 8000ers. There have been about 360 summits of GI and 950 of GII. 32-year-old Pakistani Sirbaz Kahn is on a mission. He wants all fourteen of the 8000ers and has Annapurna and Everest plus six others. Now he will go for G I.
Nanga Parbat
NP is often considered one of the most difficult 8000ers with steep rocky faces and plenty of avalanche and rockfall dangers. There are an amazing 82 climbers there this year.
Broad Peak
BP is often considered a warm-up for K2 but that grossly understates the difficulty of this 26,414’/8051m peak. About 445 people have summited Broad. Every season people talk about summiting both but it is rarely accomplished as I described in this post last.
Record Climbing Year in Pakistan?
Karrar Haidri, Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, and Managing Director at Saltoro Summits Treks & Tours Pakistan told me that there are 57 expeditions across 23 peaks this summer with a combined total of 672 permits issued. As for permits, including members and support climbers (Sherpas and HAWs), the largest number is for the combination of K2 and Broad Peak with a stunning 348 followed by G I & II have a combined total of 101 and Nanga Parbat at 82.
Keep in mind that it has become common for operators to sell the combo of Broad Peak and K2, similar to Everest and Lhotse, but few accomplish this Pakistani double as it requires actually climbing both peaks from their respective base camps, unlike the Everest/Lhotse link. The Foreign Operators in Pakistan with permits for both members and support, often are 2:1 ratios including:
- 8K Expeditions (Nepal): K2, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat GI & GII with 37
- Elite Expeditions (Nepal): K2, Broad Peak with 53
- Furtenbach Adventures (Austria): K2, Broad Peak with 30
- Jagged Globe (UK): GII, Spantik with 14
- Kobler & Partner (Switzerland): Broad Peak, G II with 20
- Madison Mountaineering (US): K2, Broad Peak with 24
- Mingma G’s Imagina Nepal (Nepal): K2, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat with 57
- Pioneer Adventure (Nepal): K2, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat, and G I & GII with 42
- Seven Summits Treks (Nepal): K2, Broad Peak with 64
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
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