{"id":41969,"date":"2022-06-24T12:30:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T18:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=41969"},"modified":"2022-06-24T14:00:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T20:00:06","slug":"k2-2022-summer-coverage-business-as-usual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2022\/06\/24\/k2-2022-summer-coverage-business-as-usual\/","title":{"rendered":"K2 2022 Summer Coverage: Business As Usual"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Lukas Furtenbach<\/a> with teams on K2 and Broad Peak reports in from BP:<\/p>\n

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Broad Peak update: Weather is finally improving after a week of snowfall and avalanches are already cleaning the slopes.\u00a0Our 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.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
And over on K2, Karakorum Expeditions<\/a> notes:<\/div>\n
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@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!<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Looks like the weather should be nice for the next few days.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And the Other 8000ers<\/h2>\n

While K2 gets a disproportionate amount of attention, the other four deserve an equal amount of attention.<\/p>\n

Gasherbrum I\/II<\/h3>\n

At 26,362\u2019\/8035m. GII is often considered the most attainable of\u00a0the Karakoram\u2019s 8000ers. There have been about 360 summits of GI and 950 of GII.\u00a032-year-old Pakistani Sirbaz Kahn <\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Nanga Parbat<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Nanga Parbat courtesy of Karrar Haidri, Saltoro Summits Treks & Tours Pakistan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Broad Peak<\/h3>\n

BP is often considered a warm-up for K2 but that grossly understates the difficulty of this\u00a026,414\u2019\/8051m peak. About 445 people have summited Broad. \u00a0Every season people talk about summiting both but it is rarely accomplished as I described in this post<\/a> last.<\/p>\n

Record Climbing Year in Pakistan?<\/h2>\n

Karrar Haidri<\/span><\/a>, Secretary of the\u00a0Alpine Club of Pakistan,<\/a>\u00a0and Managing Director at Saltoro Summits Treks & Tours Pakistan<\/span><\/a>\u00a0told me that there are 57 expeditions across 23 peaks this summer with a combined total of 672 permits issued.\u00a0As 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0The Foreign Operators in Pakistan with permits for both members and support, often are 2:1 ratios including:<\/p>\n