Posted: Jun 22, 2009 11:04 am EDT
(K2Climb.net) Climbers are reaching base camps at last, in spite of bad weather, food- and water poisoning, not to mention scary jeep rides.

Two Iranian teams are in Karakoram - one going for a new route on Broad Peak where another summit push is currently ongoing.

Broad Peak summit push

Ludovic Giambasi texted yesterday that he, Eli Revol and Antoine Girard would set off towards Broad Peak’s S and SE ridges today - sans their sat phone. A six-day comms blackout can be expected. Eli also reported big teams arriving BC.

Field Touring Alpine expected to reach BP and K2 BC’s today.

Iran: a new route on BP’s SW side

In spite of election turmoil back home; an Iranian team pushes on towards Broad Peak, hoping to open a new route on the SW side. The Arash Mountaineers Club’s climbers are led by Kiyoumars Babazadeh and supported by Abbaas Mohammadi, the new head of the Iran Alpine Club.

K2

Fredrik and Michele reached K2’s BC last week. The trip took a bumpy jeep ride from Skardu and a 7 day trek from Askole. “I was happy to arrive in one piece,” Ericsson said. “That car ride was probably be scarier than anything we will face on K2.”

Also Gerlinde and David are happy to walk to K2. Stopping at a flooded road section, the team's Jeep rolled back and fell down a cliff. The climbers had already left the vehicle while the driver managed to jump off. The expedition continued to Askole in another jeep after which the team set off towards Jola, reportedly "extremely glad to be progressing on foot!”

Nanga Parbat

Gerfried Göschl’s team has begun climbing (C1 next) while Portuguese Joao Garcia just arrived BC. South Korean Miss Oh’s team is also ready to climb Nanga Parbat’s Diamir side.

Gasherbrums

Daniela and Roxo reached BC on Sunday, now preparing for a first scouting trip to the Gasherbrum glacier.

Altitude Junkies also arrived BC on Sunday, happy to find the route through the icefall and up to camp one already fixed by Don Bowie's expedition.

“Some porters, weather completely inadequate clothing and eyewear, have suffered from snow blindness,” Phil added. “Altitude Junkies would like to start a porter program to collect old glacier glasses from climbers who have spare pairs lying around which they no longer have any use for.”

Recent Piolet d’Or winner Kazuya Hiraide has reached Hunza, Yusuke Hirai told ExplorersWeb. “He's now waiting to catch up with Finnish Veikka Gustafsson. Once together, they’ll set off towards GI in a few days time.”

An 11 member team from Tehran (Iran) is also on the way to GII. Expedition members are Kaveh Kashefi (leader), Alireza Behpour (physician), Younes Rezakhani (assistant), Omid Amohammadi, Seyed Mohammad Seyed Aghaei, Mohammad Nasiri, Mojtaba Rahman Nezhad, Hamid Sanjari, Masoud Taheri, Mohammad Naderian and Ali Nasiri.

“It is the third time that an Iranian expedition sets out to G2,” reports Iran Mountain Zone.

K2 correction note from Kathmandu

Nepal-based Rolwaing Excursion trekking and mountaineering agency was founded by last year's K2 summiteer Chhiring Dorje Sherpa. The Nepalese take pride in their climbing accomplishments which prompted Rolwaing manager Ngawang Sherpa to email ExWeb with a correction:

“I’ve noticed a wrong statement by Serap Jangbu Sherpa, (currently in Gasherbrums’ BC),” Ngawang Sherpa told ExplorersWeb. “He claims to be the first Nepalese citizen (Sherpa) to climb K2. However before him, in 1997 two Sherpas summited K2 with a Japanese group led by Osamu Tanabe."

Links to climbing teams in Pakistan 2009

Broad Peak:

Elisabeth Revol
Antoine Girard
Ludovic Giambasi
Eelco Jansen's blog
Field Touring Alpine
Iran Mountain Zone News
Karrar Haidri's Saltoro Summits
Serap Jangbu Sherpa
Adventure Tour Pakistan

K2

Fredrik Ericsson
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Maxut Zhumayev
Fabrizio Zangrilli's blog
Santiago Quintero
Nick Rice

Nanga Parbat

Gerfried Göschl's blog
Louis Rousseau
Giuseppe Pompili
Joao Garcia

Gasherbrums

Daniela Teixeira & Paulo Roxo
Philippe Gatta
Altitude Junkies' dispatches
Don Bowie
Valery Babanov
Kinga Baranowska
Colombian Camilo & Anna

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