Posted: Aug 03, 2009 10:37 am EDT
(K2Climb.net) South Korean Oh Eun-sun reportedly bagged her 13th 8000er today, Carlos Soria's group followed on top of G1. Bulgarian Boyan Petrov summited GII in a lonely push Saturday, six days after GI.

Confirmations of these early reports are still expected yet at this time, mountaineers around the world are tuning in on one peak only: K2.

Teams are preparing for the final summit push tonight: most climbers are setting off from C4 on the Shoulder, while Gerfried’s group hope to climb straight from Abruzzi’s C3.

K2

“Sepp, Luis, Christian and Gerfried are in Camp 3 (7,380m) pitching their tents,” Göschl’s wife Heike reported earlier today. “They are setting off on a definitive summit push tonight at 1:00 am, local time.”

"It was very windy today; otherwise conditions look much better than last week,” Gerfried told his wife over sat-phone.

At the time of Gerfried's report, Kazakhs Max and Vasso, Russian Bogomolov, Ecuadorian Santiago and the American climbers (George Dijmarescu and Dave Watson) were one hour away from their fouth Camp on the Shoulder. All teams on the mountain are in constant radio contact.

Meanwhile on the Cesen route, Gerlinde and Fabrizio are leading the pack and fixing rope on the way to C4. They were expected to reach the camp (7,900 m) around 4.00 pm local time today, FTA’s Chris reported. Jake Meyer is also part of FTA’s summit group.

Gasherbrum I

South Korean Oh Eun-sun summited GI w/o supplementary O2 at 1:16 pm today, according to sponsor Back Yak (read more in a story published earlier today).

Spaniards Carlos Soria, Marta Alejandre, Oskar Porras, Unai Zendoia and Arkaitz Lasa summited as well, according to a report just posted by Marta's home team.

"A tough day for the climbers, who reached the top in 50 km/h winds," Marta's team wrote. "Luckily, they were joining forces with the strong Korean team - all climbers on summit push today have succeeded. The Spaniards are now resting in C3, very tired."

Altitude Junkies’ Arian and Michael plus two Sherpas, and possibly a Czech team, were pushing as well. AJ's leader Phil Crampton reported on climbers retreating before reaching the summit due to high winds. "The guys made it to 7,300 meters before being turned around by the expected strong winds," he wrote earlier today.

"All the other climbers on the summit push also turned around and we believe the only climbers to get real high, not sure if they reached the summit, could have been using oxygen. Everyone (in AJ's team) is safe and resting in C1 and will return to base camp tomorrow. Hopefully they can give us some detailed information on their summit push," Phil wrote, adding details about conditions and the climb (go to AJ's website for more).

Gasherbrum II

”Bulgarian Boyan Petrov summited Gasherbrum II last Saturday in an individual push,” home team Peter Atanasov reported. “His mates Nikolay Petkov, Doychin Boyanov, Nikolay Valkov, with whom he had summited GI on July 26th, left for home last Thursday.”

Boyan’s was the first 8000er double-header achieved in Pakistan’s 8000ers this season. He is also an insulin-dependent diabetic.

Gasherbrum VI

Daniela Teixeira and Paulo Roxo are back after yet another attempt on GVI, thwarted again by bad conditions on the mountain. The Portuguese climbers are now on their way home.

Links to climbing teams in Pakistan 2009

K2

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Maxut Zhumayev
Fabrizio Zangrilli
Jake Meyer
Santiago Quintero
Martin Ramos
Christian Stangl
Gerfried Göschl
Louis Rousseau
Field Touring Alpine

Broad Peak:

Eelco Jansen
Iran Mountain Zone News
Carles Figueras
Karrar Haidri's Saltoro Summits
Adventure Tour Pakistan
Askari Aviation

Gasherbrums

Daniela Teixeira & Paulo Roxo
Altitude Junkies
Oh Eun-sun
Oh's Black Yak website
Carlos Soria
Veikka Gustafsson's posts
News on GI/GII Romanian expedition
Sechu Lopez
Marek Holecek and Zdenek Hruby
Marta Alejandre
Serap Jangbu Sherpa

Lesser peaks and spires

Latok I's reports
Mt. Noshaq's Afghans to the top

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