Posted: Jul 23, 2009 07:55 am EDT
(K2Climb.net/Madrid. Story updated, 8:50 am CDT.) Summit pushes are underway on the Karakoram 8000ers, in spite of weather conditions being still unstable. Snow and high winds have forced K2 climbers to stay put in C2 today.

Gerlinde, David and Fabrizio are waiting for better conditions in C2 on K2’s Cesen route, while Gerfried and Co. plan to head up the Abruzzi spur tonight. Veikka and Kazuya, on Hidden Peak, also need weaker winds to climb the Japanese Spur tomorrow. Catalan climbers are giving Broad Peak another shot after a failed push last weekend.

Concerns grow on GII after Iranian summiteers reported on a (possibly Spanish) climber who was last seen by reaching the top on Monday – further reports on the climber’s identity and whereabouts are still expected.

K2: Climbers in higher camps

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and David Göttler woke up at 4:00 am yesterday to light snow and overcast skies. Fabrizio Zangrilli joined them for breakfast and, around 5:00am, the three of them set off towards the Cesen Route in poor visibility conditions. “I know everything will be OK,” Gerl’s husband Ralf Dujmovits reported from BC. “I completely trust Gerlinde and David.”

“David logged in at 1:00 pm: ’Snow-leopard to house-cat - Do you copy me?’ I (the domestic cat) answered,” Ralf continued. “The guys were in C2, after progressing for 4,5 hours in sometimes intense snowdrift.”

“Tomorrow’s forecast show variable conditions with some snow. Besides, the wind won’t drop until Saturday,” Ralf noted. “David and Gerlinde are supposed to reach C3 on the Shoulder, with no fixed ropes and on mixed terrain. However, they might well wait for one day in C2 if the wind is too strong – and then reach the summit on Sunday (instead of Saturday - conditions shall be good on both days).”

On a later report from BC today, FTA’s Chris Szymiec just confirmed that Fabrizio, David and Gerlinde have stayed put in C2 for the day. “I spoke with Fabrizio this morning and he let me know that they are planning on holding out in C2 today due to super high winds,” Chris said. “Tomorrow the three of them will push to Camp 3. The route is not fixed above camp 2.”

K2: teams in BC on July 23rd

“Dave O., Jake Meyer and I (Chris) are moving up to Camp 2 tomorrow and will be fixing to camp 3 the following day," Szymiec added.

The remaining members in FTA’s K2 team were joined by four further climbers from Broad Peak two days ago.

Nanga Parbat summiteers Gerfried Göschl, Louis Rousseau and Sepp Bachmair reached K2 BC yesterday – right on time to join the summit push. They are planning to set off on Friday, together with Christian Stangl and Jorge Egocheaga.

Also team members Joelle Brupbacher, Martin Ramos, Santiago Quintero and HAP Qurben are ready to depart tomorrow.

Ed. Note: Jorge Egocheaga summited K2 already on July 20th. He however mentioned he might be helping his mates Martin and Joelle on their ascent – it is unclear yet whether he plans to support the team from higher camps, or attempt to top out again.

Gerfried’s group plan to climb up to C2 on Friday and C3 on Saturday. On Sunday, they’ll push all the way from C3 (on the Shoulder) to the top.

"Christian Stangl hopes to climb until aprox. 6,600 m. tomorrow, in order to check conditions," the Austrian Sky-runner's home team just told ExplorersWeb. "He has no plans to climb together with Gerfried's team all the way to the summit - although they may set off from BC together."

“Climbers who risked to set off yesterday are today stuck in C2 – some others are still in BC, not daring to launch their summit pushes since the weather has been seemingly turning for the worse through the day,” Kazakh Maxut Zhumayev just told home team’s Andrei Verkhovod over sat-phone.

“We are sitting in BC so far, waiting for the weather window which usually opens up between the end of July and the beginning of August,” Max said. “Meanwhile, I’ve spent the day talking to other climbers in BC. Apparently, some climbers plan to attempt to reach the summit straight from C3. That is, from my experience, extremely tough. On one of our attempt on the Abruzzi Spur, it took us no less than nine hours to climb from C3 to C4 in difficult conditions. When we launch our next summit bid, we definitely intend to set a 4th camp and stop there before setting off for the summit.”

Max and Vaso are far from K2 rookies: the Kazakh 12x8000ers summiteers have three previous attempts on the peak - done back in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

“Moreover, the Kazakh team reached BC just eight days ago,” Andrei noted. “After just one rest day, they set off up the Abruzzi Spur and reached as far as C3 – a fast progress even for Max and Vaso. Zhumayev also mentioned there are not so many climbers in BC with a proper C3 acclimatization.”

Gasherbrum I

“Veikka and Kazuya reached C1 in snow and low visibility on Wednesday,” home team Jukka Tammisuo reported earlier today. “Today, they’ve proceeded up to Camp 2, at 6500m. It was a long, hard climbing day in knee-deep snow, constant precipitations and high winds. Weather conditions should improve tomorrow – such being the case, the two climbers will hit the Japanese Couloir in the morning. There’s no one else ahead on the route.”

On the way up yesterday, Veikka and Kazuya met the Iranian team, who were on their way back from GII summit. “A climber from Spain might be missing,” Veikka told his home team. “He pushed for GII’s summit at the same time the Iranians did - he hasn’t been seen after reaching the top though.” The Iranian team also reported on the missing climber to IMZ news – no details, name or updates have been provided though. No news has been either published in Spanish media yet.

Broad Peak

“Two Arash Mountaineers’ expedition members have overcome the cornice at 6,200m on Broad’s SW side and found a suitable spot to set C2 at 6,250m,” IMZ news reported.

“In upcoming days, we have to traverse snow slopes in order to reach C3 (on normal route), so we have to seriously consider avalanche risks," leader Kiyoumars Babazadeh told IMZ

“Forecasts are looking good,” Catalan Carles Figueras reported. “After discussing it over dinner, we’ve decided to launch another summit push. We’ll set off on Friday towards C2 and, hopefully – further up.”

Links to climbing teams in Pakistan 2009

K2

Fredrik Ericsson
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Maxut Zhumayev
Fabrizio Zangrilli
Jake Meyer
Santiago Quintero
Sean Wisedale
Martin Ramos
Christian Stangl

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

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
Tarragona's La Pedrera club expedition
Sechu Lopez

Lesser peaks and spires

Mt. Noshaq's Afghans to the top
Pat Deavoll - Karim Sar

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