The mountaineers began their summit push at around 1 am, yesterday August 1st. They are very seasoned, most are Everest summiteers and this was their second, some even third attempt on K2. From top in image, Dutch Wilco and Italian Marco dug a bivouac above the serac at 8300 meters. Bottom in image Irish Gerard (left) and French Hugues (right) are yet unlocated. 5 climbers have been spotted descending the Bottleneck without ropes (click to enlarge).
Image by , courtesy ExplorersWeb.com, ExplorersWeb.comCesen/Abruzzi joint route on the upper part of K2. Image by ExplorersWeb (click to enlarge).
Climber above the Bottleneck at the bottom of the serac where Wilco and Marco last were located. File image courtesy of Nives Meroi (click to enlarge).
Climber on K2's Shoulder at dawn. image courtesy of Libor Uher/ P.Sulovsky's K2 & BP Czech and Slovak expedition (click to enlarge).
Ladders at the Black Pyramid. Image courtesy of Nives Meroi (click to enlarge).
The entire route - click to enlarge. Image by ExplorersWeb.
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K2 update: Wilco and Marco left bivouac, 5 climbers descending, several going up to help
Posted: Aug 02, 2008 12:58 am EDT
(K2Climb.net) At around 11 am local time, Wilco and Marco have reportedly left their bivouac just above the serac at 8300 meters above the Bottleneck. They have been in radio contact with BC, but their location is currently unknown.
Location of Gerard and Hugues is unknown. K2 BC can see 5 people climbing down the Bottleneck and 2 above.
As for rescue efforts, Cas - who descended without fixed ropes with Pemba earlier - is moving up with Mark Sheen and two Americans.
All involved, such as Roeland in BC and the Dutch K2 Norit expedition webmaster Maarten van Eck have been awake for at least 48 hours non-stop by now. Maarten urges people to please not jam satellite phones, emails or other communication with general messages. The ground team works fevereshly to assist the stranded climbers.
The mountaineers began their summit push at around 1 am local time yesterday. They are very seasoned, most are Everest summiteers (Wilco, a skilled polar explorer did Everest without oxygen) and this was their second, even third attempt on the mountaineers' mountain.
Wrap-up of events
The teams started out well, doing 2 hours ahead of schedule, except when a few hours into the ascent a Serbian accident held the Dutch up somewhat. The Norwegians and French Hugues d’Aubarade reportedly summited before the Dutch and Irish Gerard (it's unclear yet who used supplementary oxygen) and were coming down at the time of the Dutch summit at around 8 pm. Italian Marco Confortola was reportedly behind Wilco at summit time.
On descent, a big chunk of ice fell from the serac below the summit, taking a large part of the fixed lines with it. About 12 people, including Wilco, Gerard, Marco and Korean climbers got stuck either above the traverse or above the Bottleneck.
Rescue efforts
Cas and Pemba Sherpa downclimbed to C4 without fixed ropes, where Mark Sheen was holding for a summit bid tonight.
Dutch Norit Base Camp manager Roeland hurried to the Korean expedition tent organizing a joint rescue effort. Early this morning at dawn a group of at least six climbers were supposed to climb towards the Bottleneck with rope. Several international teams of climbers were reported on summit push in high camps lower on the peak, along with a number of HAP's and Sherpas.
This is a serious situation and all resources available on the mountain are hopefully put towards it. Good news is that previous fatal accidents on K2 were more often results of avalanches, sudden storms or disorientation before actual deterioriation.
Weather at present seems to be holding, although winds tend to pick up briefly early morning on 8000ers. K2 also suffers wind gusts from China on the upper slopes. Free-climbing the steep, icy sections of the Traverse and the Bottleneck is possible but highly risky as the mountaineers now have spent almost 48 hours in the K2 summit push, most without oxygen support.
Dutch K2 Norit expedition webmaster Maarten van Eck has done a monumental job to keep everyone informed. Check in on the Norit website for further updates through the night.
Links to K2 teams in Pakistan:
Wilco van Rooijen's Norit K2 expedition
Serbian Vojvodinean expedition
Gerard McDonnell's dispatches
Marco Confortola's updates
Singapore expedition
Cecilie Skog's updates
Nick Rice's dispatches
Mike Farris expedition's website
Hugues d'Aubarede
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