Posted: Aug 04, 2009 07:10 am EDT
(K2Climb.net/Madrid) "Once again, it was not meant to be - Gerlinde is descending," Ralf Dumovits just reported. Max, Vasso and Serguey retreated back to C4 as well - but the Kazakhs are not yet done with K2.

"Time went by as the four remaining climbers got stuck in chest-deep snow, unable to advance," Gerlinde's husband Ralf wrote. "Finally, they retreated in otherwise perfect weather by 4:00 pm."

"They've done their best on the climb - one must just assume though, Nature is stronger," Ralf reflected. He also mentioned that a large chunk of ice fell from an overhanging serac at the Bottleneck earlier today, shortly missing one of the climbers who were there at the time. "The episode was strongly discouraging for the climbers on summit push," Ralf noted.

Kazakhs in C4 - preparing for a new attempt tomorrow

Some time later, Maxut Zhumayev messaged his wife Olga from C4. "We were too tired to break trail in deep snow - and eventually we turned around due to the late hour," he stated.

"However, they are most likely staying for the night in C4, in order to give the peak another shot tomorrow," Olga added.

"It is not unusual for Max and Vasso to stay in higher camps and, more important, they have an ability to 'rest' above 8000 meters - remember their previous attempt on K2 in 2007," home team member Andrey Verkhovod pointed out on an email to ExplorersWeb.

Max invited Gerlinde to join them on the second try as well, according to Ralf. "She reasonably refused though," Dujmovits wrote. "After summiting Lhotse in May, and reaching 8,300m twice in the last few days, her blood is extremely thick - which may increase the risks of suffering thrombosis if she remains at altitude for too long."

(Ed. note: It is not yet confirmed whether Russian Serguey Bogomolov intends to join the Kazakhs' new attempt tomorrow.)

Links to K2 climbing teams

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

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