Earlier this week, all the teams held a meeting in Base Camp and agreed on how to share the work on the mountain. For the last two days, climbers have only been able to send short texts over their InReach devices.
Their fate remains a mystery. He turned around when his oxygen system failed. Sajid has returned to K2 to discover what happened to his father and the other two.
Others, including photographer Oswald Rodrigo Pereira and guide Jordi Tosas, have expressed similar intentions. In other words, the search is on. About the Author. Angela Benavides Senior journalist, published author and communication consultant. Notify of. Depending on their itinerary, trekkers either return to Askole back down the Braldu Valley or head towards the high pass of Gondogoro La finishing the trek in the village of Hushe.
While the Gondogoro La pass provides an alternative perspective of the Karakoram, it also proves quite the challenge. Trekkers should be confident with an ice axe and crampons and willing to rise at the stroke of midnight to take on the high pass.
Distance: The trek takes around 14 days in total and, while no specialist equipment is required, climbers should be fit and healthy and have tackled at least one high-altitude climb before. Additionally, opting to tackle the Gondogoro La pass requires some basic rope work and the use of an ice axe. Camping: The only accommodation available throughout the trek is camping. Tents are two-person affairs so solo travelers should expect to share. Campsites are pitched either on rock, ice or both, so make sure to pack a thick, warm camping mattress.
Equipment: It is common for porters to carry your personal gear. But this all depends largely on the level of service you pay for. The more expensive outfits provide chairs, dining table, toilet tent and full porterage. Cheaper outfits require clients to carry some or all of their personal gear and forego the other luxuries.
When to go: The best months for trekking in the Karakoram are July and August, although the trekking season runs from mid-June through mid-September. Outside of those dates excessive snow remains on passes and north-facing slopes, keeping any passes above 3,m ft closed. Unsurprisingly, the weather in the Karakoram can be changeable. Be prepared for a range of weather including wind, rain, snow and plunging temperatures, particularly at night.
Terrain: The terrain is far more challenging than the well-trodden trails of Nepal. On the Baltoro Glacier trails are constantly changing as the ice shifts and crevasses open up, so a degree of cross-country walking is to be expected. First climbed by a Japanese team in , this is a "king traverse" route. Starting from the K2 Glacier, the route climbs to the North West Ridge, then diagonals across the chaotic rock and snow fields of the North West Face to join the North Ridge route to the summit.
Adventure News Guide to Climbing Mt. The climb The Pakistan side The Abruzzi Spur South East Ridge First climbed by Italians in , this is the closest to a "normal" route on K2, but is still very difficult and statistically the most dangerous.
C1 m ft C1 is exposed but relatively secure, with little or no history of avalanche danger. C2 m ft C2 is sheltered by a large rock, but can get extremely windy and cold.
Summit m ft Most climbers leave between 10 p. North East Ridge. South-South-East Spur First climbed by a Basque team in , this variation to the Abruzzi Spur is possible the "safest" way up the mountain.
South West Pillar The "Magic Line" Dubbed "The Magic Line" in a widely publicized pre-expedition tour, Reinhold Messner took one look at this route in , called it "suicidal", and switched to the normal Abruzzi route. West Ridge Starting from a Base Camp on the distant Negrotto Glacier, this route gains the ridge crest at about meters.
The Chinese side The Chinese side of the mountain is the less frequently visited side, and there are usually no climbers on this side of the mountain.
It was a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of the Madison Mountaineering expedition to K2. Garrett did an outstanding job of managing the logistics, personnel, equipment and most importantly the safety of the climb.
Despite the difficult conditions that resulted from the poor weather this season in the region the trip was an absolute success delivering a well organized, safe and dynamic experience for all those that participated.
Madison did a terrific job in balancing all the complexities of organizing such a complex expedition to a region that has it challenges in terms of access, communications, comfort and safety. I would absolutely sign up again. On July 27, , my birthday, I became the oldest American to summit K2. The professionalism and skill of Garrett Madison was key in this achievement. The first successfully guided commercial mountaineering expedition to K2 was led by Madison Mountaineering in We plan to return to K2 in and hope to repeat our success, bringing a team of 6 climbers.
Climbing K2 is much more challenging and far more dangerous than climbing Everest via the standard North or Southside routes, and for this reason, we plan to keep our team size small and comprised of qualified climbers, supported by some of the best climbing Sherpas and mountain guides in the world. Unlike on Everest, because the weather and route conditions are notoriously fickle on K2, we must be prepared to take advantage of very brief periods of good weather.
Additionally, relying on support from other teams for help is not available so we must be self-sufficient throughout. Unfortunately, the food available in Pakistan is not the best for foreigners, so we have developed a meal plan that encompasses the entire trek and climb. Most of this food is brought from the USA, and we have a Nepalese cook who we have worked with for many years who with his staff meticulously prepares each meal for our team.
On the mountain, our guides and Sherpas help prepare the meals. We find that climbers perform much better, and are often in better spirits when the food is appetizing and nutritious. We employ many porters to ferry our expedition loads to base camp. The trek to K2 base camp is more than twice the distance as the trek to Everest base camp south side and is considerably more arduous being mostly on glacier and loose rock. There are no villages or lodges as on the Everest trek so we must transport our entire camp kit by porters each day as we move our caravan towards base camp.
Each porter on hire requires an additional porter to carry food and personal items, so we have a small army making our way up and down the Baltoro Glacier. It is very important to differentiate ourselves from other operators in that we have a very nice base camp, with large common tents with heating for dining and communications, and comfortable personal tents for each member.
Being here for almost 2 months, it is important for our team to have a comfortable camp, as well as to have access to the internet via a satellite modem this cost is free to all members. We have modern VHF radios for communications on the mountain, and each member is issued their own radio.
0コメント