Posted: Aug 06, 2008 04:58 pm EDT
(K2Climb.net) "Vetta!!Vetta!! Vetta!!! Finalmente!!! (Summit!! Finally, the summit!!)." So begins Italian Simone Moro's report on the first ascent of Beka Brakai Chhok, together with Herve Bramasse.

Arriving back in BC three days ago, the climbers got word about the tragedy on K2. "We are following the news with deep concern, just as we followed the recent drama on Nanga Parbat," Simone stated.

While Simone doesn't expect his climb to grab the headlines of an 8000er; he is coming home very pleased with himself. It's a first ascent, in pure style.

Here goes Simone's debrief.

Simone's report: Sticking to light style

Our original goal was a first ascent on Batura II (7762m) but, as you may know, we found a Korean team on the peak. We immediately abandoned the project, due to the light style we wanted for our climb.

Our eyes fell on a fantastic rock and ice pyramid, which had already resisted several alpinists. The previous team had placed 5 high camps on ascent and three on descent, still without summit achieved. We climbed Beka Brakai Chhok without high camps; in less than 48 hours.

The climb

We set off from the base of the wall (4750m) at 5:00 am. The climb went over difficult, dangerous terrain with vertical and even overhanging ice sections, several mixed areas and a large amount of crevasses up to 6000 meters, where the route reached the sharp ridge. There, we made a delicate, 5 pitches-long traverse to reach a plateau and then ploughed our way through fresh snow until the base of the summit pyramid, at about 6500m, which we reached at 9.30 pm.

We passed the bitter cold night shattering our teeth in the shelter of a small crevasse, with no sleeping bag, mattress or stove.

The next morning we allowed the sun to warm our bones for an hour, before resuming the climb of the last 400 vertical meters of ascent. Difficulties were not yet over; ahead were two nearly vertical sections on mixed terrain, very difficult to protect.

Summit

We took the last steps on the knife-edge ridge toward the summit, shaped as a gigantic snow marshmallow, at 2.30 pm. We shook hands, shot some pics and video, and then raced back down. We knew the descent would be complicated, and there was no time to waste.

We took a different route on the way down: a logical, direct line, but also dangerous since it was right under the huge summit serac. We climbed as fast as we could; ready to jump out of the way at the first sound of falling snow.

We reached the tiny tent from where we had started out at midnight sharp, and BC three hours later.

A question of values

It’s been an infinite ride. In light of the previous attempts on the peak, the climb left us extremely satisfied and reassured about our skills.

Alpinism is not just death, tragedy, survival and heroism.

While we don't expect our climb to get the headlines of Pakistan’s 8000ers, we hope it will serve as a reminder to both those passionate about mountaineering and also the general public.

A reminder that mountaineers like us and many others climb mountains to live, to enjoy, to grow. And to accept the verdicts of life and sometimes also of fate; without arguing or lacking respect toward those who share the same value: the value of life.

North Face athlete Simone Moro, 38, has summited Mount Everest (three times), Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, Shisha Pangma (winter), Lhotse (twice) and 5 peaks over 7000 meters. He did the first winter climb of Marble Wall 6400m (Tien Shan), a 24-hour climb on Fitz Roy’s West Face (Patagonia), and has completed many other climbs around the world. Simone and Piotr Morawski summited Shisha Pangma after a fast five-hour climb in very strong winds. It was the first (real) winter ascent on a 8000er since 1988, and the first winter climb on Shisha Pangma.

The Shisha winter summit was, in fact, Simone’s fifth winter climb. Since the December attempt on Annapurna in 1997 when Anatoli Boukreev died, Simone has had successful climbs on Aconcagua and Cerro Mirador (new route in alpine style in 1993), and on Marble Wall, the northernmost and coldest 6000er in Central Asia, with Denis Urubko in 2001.

For two months in the winter of 2007, Simone attempted the first winter climb on Broad Peak. Originally, he planned to climb solo, but then teamed up with local climber Shaheen Baig, 28 who 8, 7000ers in addition to K2 in 2004 and GII in 2001. Bad weather and delayed logistics aborted the climb, so Simone and Shaheen returned in 2008, this time including also Shimshal climber Qudrat Ali who has summited 4 out of the 5, 8000ers in Pakistan.

Also this year the expedition was initially delayed by logistics, and finally thwarted by bad conditions. Only 247 meters remained to the top of Broad Peak when the mountaineers had to obey their cutoff time of 2 pm. Simone reported the upper climb was slow due to unexpected crevasses and climbing from camp 3 without rope.

In summer 2008, Simone showed up again in Pakistan, this time teaming up with Herve Bramasse for another attempt for a first climb on Batura II in alpine style. They found a Korean expedition already sieging the mountain in heavy, expedition style. The two rerouted for another unclimbed peak - Beka Brakai Chhok.

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