Don Bowie (front) at 7,300m on GIII getting ready to help down altitude sick Bruce Normand, (back). Image courtesy of Don Bowie's website (click to enlarge).
GIII's C4 in the storm. Image courtesy of Don Bowie's website (click to enlarge).
The team dragging down Bruce from GIII's C4 in a whiteout. Image courtesy of Don Bowie's website (click to enlarge).
Arash mountaineers on Broad Peak. Image by Abbaas Mohammadi courtesy of IMZ's website (click to enlarge).
Kazuya Hiraide in Gasherbrums' BC. Image by Veikka Gusafsson courtesy of Tammisuo's website (click to enlarge).
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Pakistan wrap-up: Broad Peak summit watch, GIII attempt and incredible rescue debrief
Posted: Jul 17, 2009 11:06 am EDT
(K2Climb.net) Climbers on Broad Peak are expected to depart C3 for the summit tonight. Bids on K2 might follow next week. Veikka and Kazuya are among the few still holding on the Gasherbrums.
The attempt on GIII last week ended with an impressive rescue.
Broad Peak
Nearly 30 climbers reached C2 yesterday, planning for C3 today. Summit push will start midnight, weather pending.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Arash expedition members climbed to C1 on the peak’s SW side in a spell of good weather. A second camp is planned for tomorrow. "We have already fixed 1400 meters of ropes from BC at 4750m to 6000m through the last ten days." Babazadeh told IMZ.
Nanga Parbat
Korean Go Mi-sun’s remains were retrieved yesterday and will be airlifted to Islamabad, Askari Aviation’s Lt. Col. Ilyas Ahmad confirmed to ExplorersWeb.
Gasherbrum III
Don, Guy, Bruce and Billy set off from BC towards GIII on July 6th, hoping to give the summit a shot by July 10th. Things didn’t go as planned though. Bruce Normand became sick at C4 (7,300m) on the night before the team’s summit push. His state worsened through the following day, while a storm unfolded outside – by the second night the situation became critical.
“Bruce struggled to remain conscious throughout the evening and by the night of the 10th he was drifting in and out of consciousness - outside the winds were howling and visibility had dropped to zero,” Bowie recalled. “The last O2 sat measurement I took in the night for Bruce was a staggeringly low 37%. I congratulated him for officially breaking the Guinness World Record for having the lowest oxygen sats and still being alive. He didn't laugh.”
Read all about the emergency descent in a blizzard with a semi-unconscious Bruce in Bowie’s 3-part debrief debrief (last part to be posted today).
K2
“We are planning to head back up the mountain in two waves to try and fix to C3 (7200m approx) over the weekend, as the weather will hopefully be good enough for a few days,” Jake Meyer reported from K2 BC yesterday.
Jorge Egocheaga and Martin Ramos are also headed from BC to C3 in one push tomorrow. “That will be our last acclimatization trip before the definitive summit push – which could be launched in a weather window expected next week,” Martin said.
Gasherbrum I
While several big teams have packed up and gone home, Veikka & Kazuya are ready to sit out and wait for their summit chance – no matter how long. “They are taking it easy and just relaxing at the Gasherbrum base camp, while they wait for the right climbing weather,” home team’s Tammisuo reported.
Links to climbing teams in Pakistan 2009
Broad Peak:
Eelco Jansen
Field Touring Alpine
Iran Mountain Zone News
Leonardo Perez
Carles Figueras
Rosa Fernandez
Karrar Haidri's Saltoro Summits
Serap Jangbu Sherpa
Adventure Tour Pakistan
K2
Fredrik Ericsson
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Maxut Zhumayev
Fabrizio Zangrilli
Jake Meyer
Santiago Quintero
Sean Wisedale
Martin Ramos
Christian Stangl
Nanga Parbat
Gerfried Göschl
Louis Rousseau
Giuseppe Pompili
Joao Garcia
Askari Aviation
Gasherbrums
Daniela Teixeira & Paulo Roxo
Philippe Gatta
Altitude Junkies
Don Bowie
Valery Babanov
Jagged-Globe
Nacho Lucero
Carlos Soria
Veikka Gustafsson's posts
News on GI/GII Romanian expedition
Lesser peaks and spires
Mt. Noshaq's Afghans to the top
Pat Deavoll - Karim Sar
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