{"id":28690,"date":"2018-01-18T12:27:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T19:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=28690"},"modified":"2018-01-18T12:27:58","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T19:27:58","slug":"winter-k2-and-everest-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/18\/winter-k2-and-everest-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter K2 and Everest Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progress when climbing 8000-meter mountains is often measured in small steps, and that is what we have this week. \u00a0Also, it appears the Nanga Parbat team is heading for a summit attempt. See this post<\/a> for full background on the K2 and Everest expeditions and the history of winter attempts on the highest two mountains on Earth.<\/p>\n

Big Picture<\/h3>\n

Both the K2 and Everest teams continue to acclimatize as well as trying to establish the low camps i.e. under 7000-meters before moving higher. The main issue has been, is and will always be wind. If it is about 30 mph\/48 kph the windchill becomes deadly.<\/p>\n

\"K2<\/a>
K2 \u010cesen Route aka Basque Route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winter K2<\/h3>\n

The Polish team<\/a>\u00a0is starting to send members up the \u010cesen Route aka Basque Route to scout out conditions. High winds hit K2 a couple of days ago but seem to have calmed allowing further progress.<\/p>\n

A big decision was made on Wednesday, 17 January, by Janusz Go\u0142\u0105b and Denis Urubko to skip establishing a Camp 1 at 5,900 meters and move on to Camp 2 at 6,200 meters. This means the climbers will have a very long day from Base Camp to Camp 2 but might save some time in the long run by spending less time on the exposed ridge.<\/p>\n

I’m told by their home team that they choose the \u010cesen Route primarily because it was faster. It is steeper than the Abruzzi so these strong climbers should be able to cover more ground faster. Also, it avoids House Chimney and the Black Pyramid which are time-consuming technical rock climbs at extreme altitude.<\/p>\n

While Go\u0142\u0105b and Urubko rest, another group of climbers will continue fixing the route and establish C2 over the next few days.<\/p>\n

The four Pakistani High Altitude Porters are Sadiq,\u00a0Amina Ullah Baig, Jalal Uddin and Fazal Ali. They are from the Pakistan valley of\u00a0Shimshal. Their primary role is to help ferry gear to the camps, not to fix the route even though they have for previous summer expeditions.<\/p>\n

This is a nice video at the extreme lower part of the route by Janusz Go\u0142\u0105b and Denis Urubko:<\/p>\n