K2 2017 Season Coverage: Climbers Dodge Wild Weather
It is business as usual in the Karakorum. The weather is driving some teams crazy creating stop/start summits pushes on Broad Peak and the Gasherbrum while those on K2 seem to be taking their time to acclimatize. Broad Peak: Stalled … Again Òscar Cadiach stopped his attempt over the weekend due to deep snow above C3. They reported great weather but the deep snow and avalanche danger was too much. Another weather front is moving in thus Oscar will wait until 18 June to try again. Grace McDonald also on Broad Peak posted a nice update in Instagram on Sunday that she is moving over to K2 given the poor conditions on BP. So after days of snow and nasty weather that contradicted all reports, this was Broad Peak last night. There are at least 7 people heading for that summit now. Fingers crossed – perfect weather but DEEP snow. The number is down from the army of 20 I joined two days ago. We all split up yesterday. When my team retreating from C3 over avy concerns and a pile of new snow I decided to make it my final acclimatization rotation and returned to BC the next day. Some did a spin up to C3 and back and some stayed in C2. I know people are kicking themselves BUT we all have our own risk profiles and for most this just felt too risky. If this group of 7 does summit there will be a new member in the 14 x 8000er club and that’s worth celebrating. I’ve always said luck has a lot to do with summiting in Pakistan and I so enjoyed my last spin up the the mountain that I can hardly feel disappointed. So – I’m off to K2 in a couple days. We’re leaving the door open for one more shot at Broad Peak but later in the season. Lucas Furtenbach of Furtenbach Adventures also stopped their summit plans for the moment. They are planning to try K2 do may move over as well. Kari Kobler & Partner is there as well. K2: Climbers Acclimatizing Climbers on K2 are at the lower camps acclimatizing. Fredrik Sträng and Vanessa O’Brien both reported in at C2 on the Abruzzi. The commercial team run by Russell Brice, Himex , on the Česen Route aka Basque Route, has not posted any recent updates. Slovenian Davo Karnicar, who wanted to ski a direct line i.e. without stopping, from the summit of K2 has abandoned his effort due to a back injury. He also is reported to have said the key section of the South Face was currently snow-free. That section is extremely rocky and does not hold snow well. Gasherbrum I/II Aborted Sumits Karakorum Tours Pakistan has a small team of Americans and Spanish climbers. Last report had Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Alberto Inurrategi had turned back from a summit attempt due to deep snow above Camp 2 on GI. They are planning a traverse from GI to GII Nanga Parbat Summits Kim Hongbin and Lakpa Sherpa summited on 7 July after taking nine days. They are reported by Altitude Pakistan to be safely made it back to Base Camp. Note that NB is relatively far away from GI/II, Broad peak and K2 thus has quite different weather. Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan Search Update Please take the time to read a very informative and detailed report by Alex Găvan, co-initiator, coordinator of the technical part of the rescue and helicopter searcher of Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan on the Mazeno Ridge of Nanga Parbat-8125m, between June 26th to July 1st 2017. One of the more interesting parts are the description of problems with rescue insurance and getting information from the home team for the search. This is one of the sections: But here is not Europe, here is Pakistan, and there are certain and precise steps to be made when organizing such an undertaking. There is only one company to do it, a monopoly, the military controlled Askari Aviation. And even if you have one of the best rescue insurance policies in the world, like I do (mine is done with the Global Rescue and it gets me covered up USD 500 000), you still have to deposit in advance via bank transfer 15,000 USD, money that you will get back, minus a service fee, if nothing bad happens. They got duped in the past by insurance companies or by people not getting them paid and now they will simply not fly otherwise. At the same time, it is their policy that a mission of such a magnitude needs and must be sustained by two helicopters flying in tandem. This is good information for anyone climbing in Pakistan. As Gavan notes, the cash requirements alone are drastically different than in Europe or Nepal. And on the search itself: Finally, on July 1st, the weather was crystal clear and I was picked up by the helicopter from the basecamp at 6 o’clock sharp. We soon reached the given GPS point and saw on that place precisely significant evidence of a massive slab avalanche: the fracture line, much debris and more disturbing, Alberto and Mariano’s tracks abruptly ending on one part of the fracture line and not showing up again in any other place. Other that this, absolutely nothing to be seen out of them. We went back to refuel and in the meantime I consulted with Alberto’s wife and decided for one more search flight. Also, in a pretty heated conversation in Spain I found out more information in five minutes than in all those days when I was continuously asking for more information. According to the Racetracker device, Alberto and Marino went just uphill the Mazeno, had no return tracks showing the intention of an early retreat from the climb, seemed they never reached the Mazeno Peak (on the contrary they were pretty far from doing that) and on their last known position the GPS emitted signal from the same spot for more than
K2 2017 Season Coverage: Weather Stalls Progress
Right on cue, bad weather moved into the Karakorum stopping a proposed summit attempt on Broad Peak and some rope fixing on K2. However, there has been progress in spots. Grace McDonald on Broad Peak with Furtenbach Adventures summed it all up perhaps for everyone in the Karakorum today: I made a stormy descent to base camp this morn while snow continues to dump on the mountain. I’m looking at alternative summit windows with other teams. Broad Peak: Stalled Lucas Furtenbach of Furtenbach Adventures described the poor weather that stopped their Monday summit plans: Weather forecast changed again so team forced to stay down at basecamp and wait. Lead guide Rupert Hauer went up to C2 with a sherpa to recover gear from destroyed tents after a storm. Lots of snow high up on the mountain. End of coming week looks like what could be a stable and calm summit window. Fingers crossed???? No news regarding teams that refuse to contribute anything. Blame and shame will follow after summit push. And a report to the officials???? Also on Broad Peak is Maaz Maqsood with his Team Maaz. This young climber is eager to do the climb for his country. He is accompanied by two high altitude porters from village Hushe. He told me “that’s the theme of my TEAM MAAZ where I climb with local mountain’s people in Pakistan, we are like brothers. Ali Durrani N Rozi Ali will be with me.” He posted: Can it Happen? the challenges r enormous, its gonna be the first Pakistani Expedition to the broad peak, where we all are Pakistani national ..we are really like three brothers, the relationship we have between us is like a brothers even we all the members of TEAM MAAZ are same, we are like brothers n we take care of each other up there, its our first priority always K2: Routes Starting Climbers on K2 are also stalled today but the route is in to C2. Fredrik Sträng on K2 notes the weather has been warm and the avalanche conditions are high. Looks like it’s going to snow for a while… probably will start hearing the avalanches coming crushing down soon. However, Mingma G. noted progress on the Abruzzi: We finished route to camp2 on K2 and we are waiting for next window to go camp 4. The commercial team run by Russell Brice, Himex , posted this update on the Česen Route aka Basque Route: After our good start we have been somewhat hindered by unsettled weather. It has not really been good enough to push through the technical and exacting route from the top of the fixed ropes to C2. We did give it a try yesterday but it was too cold and too windy to fix rope although all Sherpa’s, HAP and members did go to C1 and back to BC for lunch. Another K2 team to watch are the Poles who are scouting K2 for their anticipated winter attempt later this year. Lead by Jerzy Natkański they are also on the Česen. Nanga Parbat Update The sister of Mariano Galvan, who disappeared with Alberto Zerain in Nanga Parbat Mazeno ridge, Marisol Galván is trying to get in contact with three spanish climbers that are currently preparing for GI-GII traverse and that offered their help in the search of Mariano and Alberto before. If anyone can let them know, it would be appreciated. A Normal Year I often use this team to describe a season even when there’s bad weather, stalled rope fixing, discord amongst teams, etc. That is what climbing has become these days. Poor weather and snow conditions thwarted most summit in the Karakorum the last two years, but it is way too early to be sending out dire predictions. Remember, most K2 summits occur in late July and early August – weeks away at this point. This year, 2017, teams seemed to have arrived quite early so they will need to show extreme patience to wait out storms and the ropes before heading higher. Best of luck to all. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
K2 2017 Season Coverage: Search Halted on Nanga, Monday Summits on Broad?
The Karakorum season is off to a sad start with multiple deaths. Meanwhile teams are hoping for Monday summits on Broad Peak and others reach Camp 1 on K2. Search Ends for Climbers Nanga Parbat: search ends After a helicopter search found avalanche debris at the last GPS transmission point for the Spanish-Argentinian team of Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan the search has been halted. The last transmission was on June 24th. Desnivle posted this statement from their home teams: After two flights inspecting the entire edge, the helicopter has returned without finding any trace of the two climbers . Around 03:00 am (0600 p.m., Pakistani time), the first helicopter flight of the army began in a new attempt to search for alpinists Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galván. The reconnaissance was carried out in two phases, with a stop in between, at 06:00 a.m. (09:00 p.m., Pakistani time) to refuel and continue the search. The helicopter has crossed the edge several times, arriving to fly until the 7,400m of altitude, to fix its focus, in the second flight, in the penultimate and last known position of Alberto and Mariano, without success. In that last position that indicated the device of Racetracker that carried Alberto Zerain, is where they found a plaque of snow detached that ended up forming a avalanche. Situation that, sadly, leads to rule out the possibility of survivors. Elbrus: search ends The official search has also ended for American climber Steven Beare on Elbrus. He left for the summit on June 14 alone, was due back June 16, but never checked in. Bad weather forced other teams to turn back that day and reported seeing Beare alone climbing toward the summit in close to whiteout conditions. His wife, 11 weeks pregnant with their second child, told her local newspaper that private search-and-rescue teams are still searching for her husband and asks that people continue to pray and donate through Colorado Police Officers Foundation. My condolences to all involved. Broad Peak: Summits Soon? Teams are acclimatized on Broad Peak and looking at a Monday summit, conditions permitting. The last couple of years, deep and difficult snow conditions above Camp 3 stopped almost all of the efforts. There are many teams and independent climbers this year so I assume they will join forces to break trail to the summit, if possible. They include: Kari Kobler‘s team, Oscar Cadiach, Grace McDonald from Canada and Furtenbach Adventures. Rupert Hauer with Furtenbach Adventures posted on their Monday plans: After a few days of rest at Basecamp we received the news yesterday yesterday in the afternoon, that tents in the [Cmap] 2 were destroyed by storm. I then got up with a Sherpa at half-past four in the afternoon, and we could recover the equipment from two completely destroyed tents. It can go on !!! Tomorrow or over the morning the group comes after. The summit is planned for Monday! K2: Routes Starting Climbers are busy on K2. British-American Vanessa O’Brien reports that she just is at Camp 1 on the Abruzzi route today. The commercial team run by Russell Brice, Himex , posted this update on the Česen Route aka Basque Route Today before dawn the weather looked quite bleak with spots of rain falling at BC, but despite this we decided to at least try and make some progress and so the Sherpa’s, HAP and Shinji all left at 03.30 to start the rope fixing. The gamble paid off and so by 08.30 everyone had reached the C1 site having fixed 1,000m of rope. This is actually a very small and exposed place with just enough room for two tents so we do not actually use this. The three Sherpa’s continued fixing another 350m of rope towards C2, but by this stage the snow was to soft and deep so they deposited the remaining equipment and rope before retreating back to BC for a late lunch. The route is now about 500m below C2 and our surprise package which we are eager to reach. The day actually turned out to be relatively clear with long sunny periods in the morning but as the afternoon has progressed the upper sky has filled in with more threatening looking cloud, so again although we are planning on reaching C2 tomorrow we will have to wait and see what happens in the morning. Denali On the other side of the world, the Denali 2017 season has been a hard one with difficult snow and weather. The National Park Service reports a 36% summit rate, which would be the second lowest since 2000. Denali West Buttress Route source: National Park Service Year Total Summits % Top Summit Date # 2017 359 (thru 29 June) 36% May 31 100 2016 676 60% 2015 620 57 TBA 2014 404 35 June 4 99 2013 787 68 May 27 56 2012 492 44 N/A 2011 623 55 June 6 66 2010 630 56 June 21 54 2009 649 60 June 7 77 2008 652 58 May 30 91 2007 513 47 June 12 77 2006 545 52 May 29 50 2005 716 59 June 15 101 2004 628 54 June 4 71 2003 556 58 June 12 115 2002 575 53 June 13 56 2001 670 60 June 4 69 2000 556 53 June 3 71 It appears the Denali summit window is narrowing based on the last few years. Late April/early May is horribly cold and into July, dangerous crevasses open thus early June is the sweet spot, and of course the crowds. More trivia from Denali: Quick Facts – Denali Climbers from the USA: 677 (60% of total) Top states represented were Alaska (122), Washington (103), Colorado (95), and California (64) International climbers: 449 (40% of total) Foreign countries with the most climbers were the United Kingdom (52) Japan (39), France (28). In a three-way tie for fouth position were the Czech Republic, Korea, and Poland, each with 23 climbers. Nepal was close behind with 22. Of the less-represented countries, we welcomed just one climber each from Montenegro, Iceland, Mongolia, and Croatia. Average Trip Length Overall average was
K2 2017 Season Coverage: Missing Climbers, Cheating Climbers, Weather Windows
The Karakorum season has begun in earnest with teams preparing to fix the route on K2 and those on Broad Peak waiting for the weather window to firm up before they attempt the summit. Also, there are missing climbing on two peaks: Nanga Parbat and Elbrus plus discord at base camps. Missing Climbers Elbrus An American climber attempting Russia’s Mt. Elbrus, one of the 7 Summits, is missing. Steven Beare, a police officer, Army veteran and Colorado National Guardsman, lives in Colorado and left for the summit on June 14 alone. He was due back June 16, but never checked in. Bad weather forced other teams to turn back that day and reported seeing Beare alone climbing toward the summit in close to whiteout conditions. An exhaustive search has been underway the past few days including by aircraft with no success. It is reported today that the formal search has ended. Canadian Don Bowie, participated in the effort posted this image of GPS coordinates for one day of helicopter flight patterns over Mt. Elbrus plotted on Google Earth: Nanga Parbat Meanwhile on Nanga Parbat, the Spanish-Argentinian team of Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan have been missing since June 24th when their GPS tracker went silent. They were climbing the long and dangerous Mazeno Ridge in alpine style. Helicopters teams search the route with no success. Bad weather has stopped the efforts as of this post. Desnivle reports the details but also notes that in 2012 Rick Allen and Sandy Allan who performed the first ascent of the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat spent 18 days on the route and experienced communication problems. They cover it in this article. K2 It looks like K2 Base Camp is full and there will be activity on both of the major routes totalling around 82 climbers. Minga Gyalje Sherpa thru his company Dreamers Destination reports there are 39 climbers on the Abruzzi Route: 18 foreigners, 13 Nepalese, 8 Pakistani and 41 on the Sechen Route: 20 foreigners, 3 Nepalese, 9 Pakistani. The commercial team run by Russell Brice, Himex, arrived at K2 Base Camp yesterday. Brice posted this update: This morning we had a traditional Sherpa Puja for the 4 Sherpa who are with us with the local High Altitude Porters (HAP) who are the local equivalent also sitting in. One of the very interesting aspects of operating expeditions in these remote countries is the close contact that we have to various religions. It is also very interesting to see just how much respect and understanding there is between these people, a fine example to others. This was followed by a trip to Crampon Point (CP) where our Sherpa & HAP had established a route the day before. This point is marked by one solitary tent for storage of gear. Hopefully tomorrow we will start work on the hill in earnest by starting the rope fixing to C1. However the forecast is not that favorable so we will have to see what happens in the morning tomorrow. He also noted that he could see their tents at Camp 2, approximately 22,000 feet, using a telescope from base camp. He is hoping that some of their gear can be retrieved. Last year, an avalanche on 23 July destroyed tents, buried fixed ropes and swept way the cache of food and oxygen bottles at Camp 3 on the Abruzzi. Most climbers were at Camps 1 and 2, several reports said 25 Sherpas were on their way to fix ropes to Camp 4 when they found the destruction. K2 is well known for avalanches and Camp 2 on the Abruzzi is home to shredded tents from the hurricane winds as shown in my photo to the right. Brice was a bit surprised to see tents still there. He is on the Česen Route aka Basque Route, I believe. He added to his update: However we are very keen to get to C2 where much to my amazement I can still see 4 of our tents standing from 2015. With luck we just might find a considerable amount of equipment that we lost at that time, including oxygen, rope, and cooking equipment which will all save us a considerable number of loads that have to be carried from BC. Also various members have personal equipment and sleeping bags there, but we are dubious as to whether these will be useable or not. Time will tell. But at least members are excited that they might be reunited with some of their own gear. The Swedish climber, Fredrik Sträng, is back on K2 this year. He was on K2 in 2008 when 11 people were killed in a variety of accidents and avalanches. He also played an instrumental role in the documentary film, The Summit. Gasherbrum I/II At 26,362’/8035m. GII is often considered the most attainable of the Karakoram 8000ers. There have been about 340 summits of GI and 935 of GII. Karakorum Tours Pakistan has a small team of Americans and Spanish climbers in 2017. Last report had Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Alberto Inurrategi at 6400 meters. Nanga Parbat At 26,660’/8126m Nanga is known to be one of the more technical 8000ers. – some will say harder than K2 by some routes. There have been around 360 summits including several in the 2016 winter leaving K2 as the only 8000er not summited in winter. An attempt is scheduled for this upcoming winter by the Poles According to the website Altitude Pakistan, Korean Kim HongBin on the Kinshofer route has hit poor conditions stalling his progress. Broad Peak 26,414’/8051m The Austrian team lead by Lucas Furtenbach reports the route is in to Camp 3 and they are awaiting a good weather window. Spanish climber Oscar Cadiach is also there as is Canadian Grace McDonald. Kari Kobler’s team has slept at Camp 2 and is ready to summit. Furtenbach posted: All team members back in basecamp. Acclimatization completed, route fixed to C3 by our sherpas. Now rest until a good weather window opens for a summit push. Strong team Climbers “Cheating” Finally, there are a lot of comments on climbers arriving
K2 2017 Season Coverage: Teams Begin Climbing
The climbing season in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range is well underway with teams arriving at base camps and some already spending a few nights at Camps 1 and 2 during their acclimatization rotations. There are reports of significant snow on the mountains. K2 Teams have just arrived at K2 base camp. British-American Vanessa O’Brien reports that she just arrived at K2 base camp today. Minga Gyalje Sherpa thru his company Dreamers Destination is doing the logistics for Vanessa on K2 plus three Chinese, another American, two Icelanders, one Norwegian and one Singaporean. They are also planning on Broad Peak. Russell Brice and his Himex team should also be there so we will have good reports soon. In the annual battle of who will be the first “American” woman to summit K2, it appears that both Vanessa O’Brien with both a British passport and an American passport is competing against Badía Bonilla from Mexico – geographically considered part of North America – for the obscure title of “First American Woman to Summit K2.” Bonnilla along with her husband Mauricio López were also on K2 last year when avalanche conditions stopped all climbers. Gasherbrum I/II At 26,362’/8035m. GII is often considered the most attainable of the Karakoram’s 8000ers. There have been about 340 summits of GI and 935 of GII. Karakorum Tours Pakistan has a small team of Americans and Spanish climbers in 2017. Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Alberto Inurrategi have reached 6400 meters. Nanga Parbat At 26,660’/8126m Nanga is know to be one of the more technical 8000ers. – some will say harder than K2 by some routes. There have been around 360 summits including several in the 2016 winter leaving K2 as the only 8000er not summited in winter. According to the website Altitude Pakistan, Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan have ended their attempt via the Mazeno Ridge on the Diamir side of Nanga due to bad weather. On the other side of NB, Korean Kim HongBin on the Kinshofer route hit poor conditions as well. Broad Peak 26,414’/8051m Teams are all over Broad Peak, including a few who just arrived this weekend. Spanish climber Oscar Cadiach and Furtenbach Adventures are already at base camp. Furtenbach reports spending nights as high as Camp 3: Team up on the mountain again. Direct ascent to C2 (pic below) at 6200m yesterday, today to Camp 3 at 7100m and back down to C2 for another night. Tomorrow back to basecamp and acclimatization completed. Route was fixed by our sherpas. Ready for summit push when weather window opens. Grace McDonald from Canada reports about difficult snow conditions: Team was only able to tag about half way to C3. Rope fixing slowed by deep snow. 4 of us will go again tomorrow others go to basecamp. All sleep in C2 now. Rupert Hauer with Furtenbach is posting excellent reports. Kari Kobler’s team is reported to be at Camp 2. A Normal Start in Pakistan Thus far the season is starting like most do, the lower camps getting established, and climbers doing their acclimatization rotations. Once again we are seeing Nepal Sherpas doing a lot of rope fixing whereas in previous years, it was mostly the climbers themselves. Thus the Karakorum is becoming more like the Himalaya. The big question will be snow conditions above 7500 meters, and of course the unexpected weather. This is where the problems began the last two years. Hoping for the best for all. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
K2 2017 Season Coverage
Using my experience of my successful summit of K2 in 2014 and covering the action in 2015 and 2016, I will once again be covering the 2017 K2 climbing season from my home in Colorado this year. I try to do it the same style as my annual Everest coverage but information is much more difficult to obtain from Northern Pakistan than Nepal. I’ll do my best to throw in occasional coverage for climbers on Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I and II. As always, I use my Blog to gain awareness for Alzheimer’s and if you appreciate my coverage, please consider a donation. The Savage Mountain As I covered in a post a couple of years ago, “Why K2 will not become Everest“, K2 is a totally different climbing experience requiring a different set of skills and experience. It is the second highest mountain in the world at 28,251’/8611m. The climbing is technical – meaning you are using feet and hands to climb; the exposure is extreme – meaning if you fall you will most likely die; and the weather is extreme – meaning it is less predictable due to it proximity to other nearby mountains. It is common to have very different conditions on K2 than on Broad Peak or the Gasherbrum only a few miles away. The number reason listed for death is “disappearance” suggesting the climber fell in a highly exposed area, was blown away by winds or buried in an avalanche. These are not bravado or ego based comments on my part given I have summited both peaks, but my effort to help readers understand that K2 is in a different league than the 8000ers. Just because you summited Everest, doesn’t mean you are ready for K2. If you attempt K2, you must accept that dying is a real possibility. It is well documented that K2 sees significantly more deaths than Everest. Thru 2017, I estimate 8,250 summits with 290 deaths on Everest – 3.5% compared to 355 summits with 82 deaths on K2 – 23%. Annapurna remains the most delay 8000er. While some will quibble with these statistics, it is a measure of risk. Years with No K2 Summits From 1986 to 2016, there were 12 years with no summits. From 2009 to 2016, there were only three years with summits – 2011 only from the Chinese side, and 2012 and 2014 each with about 40 – 50 people summiting – record breaking years as a result of a week of excellent and rare summit conditions. Everest went from 1974 to 2014 with summits every year – 40 straight years! Teams I will not be keeping a location table like I do for Everest given the lack of detailed information but these are a few of the teams on K2 this year. Himalayan Experience (Himex) Furtenbach Adventures Dreamers Destination Adventure Tours Pakistan Karakorum Tours Pakistan If you have a team and want coverage, please contact me. Also, Raheel Adnan has a great site for all things Karakorum. A few of the climbers are back after being stopped the last two years. Himex was there last year and British-American Vanessa O’Brien is back for the third year in a row. Vanessa has become a bit of a celebrity in Pakistan thru building a good relationship with the local press. She and her team were highlighted in this recent article in the Tribune Experess. These are the teams with climbing permits for the Karakorum this summer in Pakistan. Keep in mind that all foreign operators must use a local Pakistani owned and operated company to obtain permits. Also they have been required to hire Pakistani High Altitude Porters and discouraged from bringing Sherpas from Nepal/Tibet to support their teams, however many teams do albeit at a higher expense. The Easy Part of Climbing K2 Every K2 from Pakistan starts in Islamabad. This year it appears about 50 foreigners streamed into Islamabad to begin their journey to K2 Base Camp. Many are almost there this weekend. Most teams try to fly directly to Skardu via a daily Pakistan International Airline flight, but due to regular bad weather in Skardu, it is canceled 20% of the time and very delayed another 25%. Thus some teams are forced to take the 30 hour, 2 day drive along the very dangerous Karakorum Highway. Russell Brice reported on his initial journey: We all arrived into Islamabad on 12 and then attempted to fly to Skardu on 14, however the weather suddenly changed and so when we were just 15km away from our destination we had to return to Islamabad. We were met at the airport by our bus that was then to take us on a 9 hour journey to a mountain resort which we were beyond the attention to even know the name of at 01.30 in the morning. The same morning we were up at 05.00 and started our next part of the journey at 06.00 travelling over the Babusar Pass at over 4,000m and then continuing on the Silk Highway winding our way around a twisty narrow road with a large drop into the river below. After another 15 hours in the bus we were all pleased to reach Skardu late last night. Many of the teams arrive at Skardu and stay at the time honored Concordia Motel, enjoying Internet (slow) and evening cookouts (fantastic) with great views of the Indus River. It is here that you begin to feel like you might be a climber and not a tourist as most every climber in the Karakorum stays there, chatting, sharing dreams and talking mountains. Once they being the trek to their base camps, most teams will take 8 days hike up the Baltoro Glacier enjoying some spectacular views anywhere in the mountains. Gasherbrum I/II At 26,362’/8035m. GII is often considered the most attainable of the Karakoram’s 8000ers. There have been about 340 summits of GI and 935 of GII. Karakorum Tours Pakistan has a small team of Americans and Spanish climbers in 2017. Nanga Parbat The ‘Killer Mountain’ has a deadly