Kampire Dior, whose name means the “House of the Old Woman,” rises at the far end of Batura Glacier — it is so isolated and difficult to spot from afar that some cartographers in the past doubted the peak actually existed (click to enlarge).
“The Japanese described the route only briefly — providing virtually no details, so we don’t really know what we are going to find,” Tomasz (in the image)said. “Our original plan is to climb alpine style, divided into three independent groups. However, we are also ready to change our minds and to turn into expedition style and fix rope if conditions on the route demand it.” (Click to enlarge).
Robert Szymczak (in the image) may join the team as well, although his participation has not yet been confirmed. Robert was a member of the team led by Wieliki that attempted Nanga Parbat this past winter. All images courtesy of the expedition's website (click to enlarge).
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Polish Kampire Dior Expedition: Back to Batura region's 7000ers
Posted: Apr 19, 2007 11:26 am EDT
(K2Climb.net) In addition to the expeditions aiming for 8,000+meter summits, more teams are setting their sights on the Karakorum spires and Pakistan’s 7,000ers. Among them is a Polish eight-member team, whose goal is Kampire Dior (7,168m).
Following the Japanese’s tracks
“We’ve only found out details on one previous successful expedition on the peak: A Japanese team who achieved the first ascent on June 14, 1975,” member Tomasz Slodnik told ExplorersWeb. “Mr. Yasuhide Hayashi, who was 27 by the time he reached the summit, has helped us a lot by sending over pictures and a cool book on Japanese climbs from 1905 to 2005. We’ve also heard of a failed attempt later by an Austrian team, but we lack details on that expedition.”
The Poles will follow the Japanese route on the SW ridge, setting four camps/bivouacs on the way. “The Japanese described the route only briefly — providing virtually no details, so we don’t really know what we are going to find,” Tomasz said. “Our original plan is to climb alpine style, divided into three independent groups. However, we are also ready to change our minds and to turn into expedition style and fix rope if conditions on the route demand it.”
A virgin peak as second course
“After Kampire, we hope to launch an attempt to neighboring Yashkuk Peak (6,667m), which seems to be still unclimbed (at least according to the information we gathered),” he said. “Right know we have no clue about the route or the climbing strategy we will follow on Yashkuk — we will see when we’re there.”
“Among the expedition goals are filming a documentary, conducting some medical research on the reactions of human body in alpine environments, and also to explore around the Batura-Muztagh range,” Tomasz said. “Actually, this will be our second expedition in the area — last year we attempted Passu Sar, but had no luck.”
The route to Kampire’s BC starts by road in Gilgit, until the village of Bort in Ishkoman Valley, from where the trekking starts. “The number of porters will depend on the funding we can get,” he said. “We are ready to trek twice to BC in order to carry our loads in two trips, as we did last year. Hopefully not this year too, though.”
A Winter Nanga Parbat veteran in the team?
The Polish Kampire Dior Expedition 2007’s leader, Piotr Pawlus, is also the youngest on the team, at just 21 years old. Other team members are Tomasz Slodnik (29), Romuald Palma (47), Pawel Kulinicz (28), Pawel Juszczyszyn (35), Rafal Krol (35), and Tomasz Wawrzyniak (25). Robert Szymczak (30) may join the team as well, although his participation has not yet been confirmed.
Robert was a member of the team led by Wieliki that attempted Nanga Parbat this past winter. A young generation representative in a team of winter climbing veterans, Robert worked on the route and coped with the bitter cold as much as the others though, and he was also the expedition’s doctor. He is a mountain rescuer and a scientist specialized in high mountain medicine.
Kampire Dior (meassuring between 7,143m and 7.168m depeding on the source), whose name means the “House of the Old Woman,” rises at the far end of Batura Glacier — it is so isolated and difficult to spot from afar that some cartographers in the past doubted the peak actually existed, according to BlankOnTheMap.
Despite its amazing climbing potential, the Batura region in which Kampire Dior is located is one of the less visited mountain areas in Pakistan. It provides with a large number of 7,000+meter peaks, but also high difficulty peaks, both to access and to climb.
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