March 3rd, 2010 by admin

Back on August 2nd, 2008, the mountaineering community was stunned by another tragedy of epic proportions when a giant serac collapsed on K2, killing 11 people in the process. At the time, there was confusion and panic on the mountain, with climbers from below scrambling up to lend aid where they could. It was one of the single most deadly days in the Himalaya, but for one man it became a test of determination and survival.

Dutch climber Wilco Van Rooijen was presumed to be dead, swept off the mountain like so many other climbers. But after spending three days at altitude on the second highest, and probably most deadly, mountain on the planet, he miraculously showed up at Camp 3, with plenty of harrowing stories to tell. Wilco wrote a book entitled Surviving K2, which has recently been released in English, in which he told about the events of that climb, from his perspective, for the first time. He also recently sat down for an interview with Explorers Web, in which he shares his thoughts on the experience as well.

In that interview, Wilco talks about what it was like to write the book, which incorporated diary entries from his wife, who waited for word on the whereabouts of her husband. He goes on to discuss his fascination with K2, his three expeditions to the mountain, and his controversial decision to continue on towards the summit on that fateful day, despite being so high so late in the day. He also calls Gerard McDonnell, one of the climbers who lost his life that day, a hero and explains how McDonnell worked to free two men caught in the fixed lines, in total disregard for his own safety. Something that may have ultimately cost him his life.

It has been more than a year and a half since the K2 tragedy, and as is so often the case in these events, the full story is still being told. Mountaineers experience different things, or see events from different perspectives, which sometimes leads to disagreements and confrontations after the fact. This event is no different, but it is interesting to hear what the survivors have to say about what happened none the less.

Has anyone read the book yet? I’ll need to see if I can track down an English version. It sounds like it would make for a good read.

October 14th, 2009 by admin

It is known as the “mountaineer’s mountain”, and unlike the taller, but technically less challenging Everest, it remains off limits for all but the most talented and dedicated of climbers. It is K2, the second highest mountain on Earth, but arguably the most deadly. It also happens to be the subject of a new book by Ed Viesturs which hits bookstores today, entitled K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain.

While the general public remains fixated on Everest, K2 seems to epitomizes the dangers of high altitude climbing unlike any other mountain. For the mountaineering community, both armchair and actual, it is a mountain of mythical proportions, both literally and figuratively. Located in the Karakorum range of Pakistan, K2 stands 28,251 feet in height, some 778 feet shorter than Everest. Despite this difference in height however, K2 remains orders of magnitude more challenging to climb than the Himalayan giant.

Few people know this better than Viesturs, who has climbed both mountains. In fact, Ed is the only American to have reached the summit of all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks, accomplishing this feat without the use of supplemental oxygen. Ed’s quest to complete that task was chronicled in his earlier book No Shortcuts To The Top, in which he gave insights into his climb on K2, which was quite possibly the most dangerous climb ever.

Despite the fact that K2 played a prominent role in his first book, Ed still had more to share about his experience on that mountain, and that is at the core of this new book, although it isn’t the sole focus. Viesturs says that he learned the most important lesson of his career on K2 when he pressed on to the summit despite terrible weather, when every instinct was telling him to turn back. With conditions worsening, he reached his goal, and turned back down the mountain, knowing full well that many climbers have died on K2 while descending the mountain, and although he lived to climb another day, he promised himself that he would never ignore his instincts again. That lesson would serve him well on future climbs, including several on Annapurna.

As I said earlier, Viestur’s K2 climb isn’t the only focus of this new book however. He also takes a look at some of the most important historical expeditions to the mountain as well, recounting a number of the legendary tales from the legendary mountain. Some of the other expeditions that Ed shares with readers include the 1938 team, led by Charlie Houston, that paved the way for eventual summit success in 1954. Houston’s ill fated 1953 expedition also receives plenty of attention as well, as it gave us one of the most enduring mountain stories in “The Belay”, and of course the 2008 season is also examined as one of the most tragic climbs in the history of mountaineering.

Anyone who has read No Shortcuts knows what to expect out of Veistur’s writing style. Ed is once again assisted by co-author David Roberts, and their collaboration once again results in a book that is easy and fun to read. At times, it is almost as if you’re sitting around the fire with Ed himself, sharing tales of high adventure in the Karakorum, which turns K2 into quite the page turner, especially when reading about the historical expeditions, where you know the gear and apparel were not up to the standards of today, and climbers suffered mightily while high on the mountain.

For fans of Ed or mountaineering in general, picking up this book is a no brainer. It is a very quick read that serves as a perfect introduction to K2 and the lore that surround the mountain. If you’ve read a lot of other books on the subject, there isn’t a ton new here, although it is interesting to get Viesturs’ insights on the history of the peak. Personally, I’d still recommend the classic Savage Mountain as the preeminent book on K2, but this book is a worthy heir to that throne, and an excellent read in its own right.

August 13th, 2009 by admin

ExWeb has some good updates today from the Karakorum, where things are mostly winding down, as teams depart and begin preparations for the fall season in the Himalaya.

The biggest piece of news is that climbers are still getting organized on Latok I in an attempt to go up the mountain and look for Oscar Perez, who has been stranded above 6500m for six days now, and there hasn’t been any contact with him at all since the weekend. At this point, his home team has no idea what his condition is, and everyone is just hoping for the best. ExWeb says that five other Spanish climbers have left their home country and are headed for Pakistan to try to help out, but considering the remote nature of the mountain, time in transit, and so on, they won’t be in a real position to assist for some time yet.

Fabrizio Zangrilli is already on the scene however, and a fly over of the campsite resulted in no visual confirmation of Oscar’s condition. Fabrizio will attempt to climb up to Oscar’s position tomorrow, and assess the situation and possibly aid in bringing him down. Once again, lets all keep our fingers crossed for a happy ending here.

Meanwhile, in other news, the Arash Mountaineers team that has been working a new route on Broad Peak reportedly has abandoned the route after running out of supplies and time. They had established the route up to Camp 3, but now say that they’ll have to return to give it another go in the future. They do, however, plan to make a summit bid along the normal route before coming home.

And finally, fresh off of her 13th 8000m peak, Korean climber Eun-Sun Oh is expected to return home tomorrow, where she’ll take a much deserved break before returning to the Himalaya in September. At that time, she’ll set her sights on Annapurna, her final obstacle before becoming the first woman to complete all of the 8000m mountains. She is firmly in the driver seat now to claim that honor, as this story from National Geographic Adventure points out, but Annapurna won’t yield up its summit easily. In fact, many consider it to be the second toughest 8000m peak to climb, behind only K2. But the other contenders, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Edurne Pasabán, and Nives Meroi have all hit snags in their bids to be the first woman to join the elite list of men to have topped out on the 8-thousanders. Miss Oh has come out of no where to knock off four of those mountains his year, and seems poised to claim her fifth in a few months.

Update: Mountaineer and author Clyde Soles has posted more info on the Oscar Perez story. Seems that the Spanish climber is actually on Latok II not I and that he is suffering from a broken arm and leg, which is why he is stranded at high camp. A radio malfunction or dead batteries might account for the lack of contact as well, so there is reason to believe that he is hanging on and waiting for a rescue. Hopefully we’ll know more tomorrow.

August 11th, 2009 by admin

An urgent appeal went out to climbers over the weekend with ExWeb helping to lead the charge. It seems that Spanish climber Oscar Perez has become stranded above 6500m on Latok I, and as of this writing, there is no update on his status. His team was requesting that any high altitude climbers who could aid in a rescue contact them so that they could organize a team on the mountain. Oscar’s climbing partner, Alvaro Novellon, is already in BC suffering from frostbite.

Oscar and Alvaro were attempting to scale the unclimbed north face on Latok I in alpine style, and estimated that it would take them 7-8 days to complete. It is unclear at this point as to what exactly happened while they were climbing the 7145 meter peak, which is located in northern Pakistan. Latok I is the first of four summits in a cluster on the Panmah Muztagh region of the Karakorum.

When ExWeb posted their story a few days back, Oscar’s team hadn’t had contact with him in three days. Everyone is still holding out hope that he is alive and well, but perhaps his radio is not functioning properly or has dead batteries. Hopefully we’ll have an update on the situation soon, but the following contact information is offered in case anyone in the region can lend a hand:

team@explorersweb.com or

Essar Karim:
ADVENTURE TOURS PAKISTAN
P.O.Box # 465,
G-9 Post Office
Islamabad
Pakistan
Phone # +92-51- 2260820, 2252759
Fax # +92-51-2264251
Email: info@atp.com.pk, atp.global@gmail.comwww.atp.com.pk

Lets keep our fingers crossed on this one folks!

August 7th, 2009 by admin

More updates from the Karakorum today, where the season is rapidly coming to an end, and teams are either topping out or packing up to come home it seems.

We’ll start on K2, where Kazakhs Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov were hoping to make another summit bid today, but high winds near the top have forced them down, along with a Japanese team they were hoping to work with. The weather forecast calls for “hurricane force” winds on the summit over the next few days, which prompted the hasty retreat back to Base Camp. The question now is, will they hang around for another go?

It seems that most of the teams are preparing to give up on K2 this seaons, and Everest News has already declared “No Summits this Year”. The latest update from the Field Touring Alpine Team says that they’ve elected to go home. Their porters have arrived in BC and packing has already begun. They hope to exit Base Camp on Friday to begin the trek back to civilization. The team is healthy but tired, and although there were no summits from FTA this year, they still consider it a successful outing.

We’ll probably have to wait a few days to find out if any teams plan to stay behind and make one final attempt on the summit, but it seems that BC is going to be very empty by the weekend. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say Max and Vasso are the most likely pair to try again, but with high winds and very deep snow up near the summit, it seems that the chances of topping out are very slim. If the Karakorum season does end with no summits on K2, it just underscores how difficult it truly is to climb this mountain.

Meanwhile, the Altitude Junkies have updated their blog with the confirmation that Spanish and Korean climbers made successful summits on the 3rd. This includes Oh Eun-sun, the Korean woman who now has 13 8000m peaks to her name. The AJ team is completely off the mountain now, and their porters have also arrived on the scene, so they are packing up and preparing to head back to Skardu as well. It seems that the season is over on the Gasherbrums as well.

Finally, ExWeb is reporting that a team still remains on Broad Peak, and they are attempting a new route on that mountain. They’re into C1 right now and will be proceeding upwards to C2 and 3 tomorrow. By the end of the weekend, they may be the final team in the Karakorum.

August 5th, 2009 by admin

Summit bids continue in the Karakorum as the new week begins, and another strong Korean climber emerges as a threat to be the first woman to nab all 14 8000 meter peaks.

Over the weekend, Korean climber Oh Eun-sun reached the summit on Gasherbrum I, claiming her 4th 8-thousander of the year, and 13th overall, as she moves into a position to become the first woman to summit all of the big peaks. She now has just Annapurna left to conquer. Gerlinde Kaletenbrunner may join her soon however, as she is in the middle of her summit bid on K2, which would put her at 13 as well. Miss Oh has also successfully topped out on Kangchenjunga, Dhaulagiri and Nanga Parbat this year.

Things weren’t completely rosy on GI this weekend however, as the Altitude Junkies are reporting that their team went as high as 7300 meters before turning back due to high winds. The entire team is safe and healthy and expected back in BC tomorrow, where they’ll regroup and consider another go at the summit.

On K2, the outlook is a bit better, with teams continuing to make their push today, and the Field Touring Alpine Team is checking in from Camp 4, which puts them on schedule for this attempt. The FTA climbers are planning on going to the top this evening (local time) and are probably already moving up as I write this. According to the update, there are a number of teams in C3 as well, and it appears they’ll move up tomorrow and be in place to make their summit bid tomorrow night.

Expect good news from K2 soon, and keep your fingers crossed that everyone gets up and down in one piece!

August 5th, 2009 by admin

A quick update this morning, courtesy of ExWeb, who is reporting that weather conditions on K2 have prevented the teams on their summit push from reaching the top of the mountain. Deep snow, reportedly up to the climbers chests, was the main impediment to their progress, and while most are heading back down for now, the Kazakhs are going to stay in C4 and make another go of it tomorrow.

According to the story, Gerlinde Kalenbrunner and her climbing mates have been turned back and are proceeding down. She’ll no doubt be weighing her options and the chances of getting to the summit yet this year, although time is beginning to run short. But Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov have remained at altitude, and hope to gather their strength to make another attempt on the summit. This shows how strong these two men are at altitude, having the ability to actually recover without descending, and they are actually use to spending days above 8000m.

The Field Touring Alpine Team has updated their status today as well, with the news that their climbers have also gone back down the mountain and are either in C2 or BC. Everyone is said to be healthy and feeling fine, if a bit tired.

The ExWeb report also indicated that a large chunk of ice broke off from a serac just above the Bottleneck and went sliding down the mountain, narrowly missing one of the climbers, in what had to be a very scary scene some what reminiscent of last year’s tragedy. Lets hope that these falling chunks of ice are not a precursor to another major serac collapse.

I’ll keep an eye on Max and Vassiliy and their next summit bid tomorrow. If anyone can get up to the top, it’ll be these two.

August 1st, 2009 by admin

More news from the Karakorum today, where persistent teams are still hoping to reach the summit of K2, but the mountain isn’t going to give up her prize easily. Meanwhile, another summit push is underway on Gasherbrum I as well.

ExWeb has the latest news from K2, where we learn that the remaining teams all came together for a meeting where they decided it was best if they all joined forces to try to tackle the mountain together. There are still a number of strong climbers who are hoping to summit on the mountain, including Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who is seeking her 13th 8000m peak, as well as Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov, the two amazing Kazakh climbers who have made some of the more daring climbs over the past few years. According to the story, the combined teams will begin their summit push tomorrow, climbing one camp per day until they make their summit bid. That would put them on top around Monday or Tuesday of next week.

The Field Touring Alpine Team returned from their summit bid a few days back, and posted some thoughts on the climb, which didn’t result in any successful summits. The noted that there were high winds up top, and that there are no fixed ropes above Camp 3 as of yet, which made it very dangerous and challenging for everyone. Their current plan is to rest up for a few days and reevaluate their chances, before deciding if and when they’ll make their next bid. Chances are, they may be heading up tomorrow with the rest of the teams.

The weather looks good into early next week, and it seems like it is now or never, but the mood is a bit somber on K2 as we approach the one year anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 13 lives. You know that more than one of the climbers will be thinking about that as they head up this weekend.

Jumping over to the Gasherbrums, another round of summit attempts are underway as well. There are currently teams at various points on both GI and GII, with an eye on reaching the top in the next few days as well. One of the teams still on the mountain is the Altitude Junkies, but their latest dispatch indicates that they won’t be there much longer. Team leader Phil Crampton says that it has snowed for three days straight on GII and that conditions are just too dangerous higher up for them to take any chances. They’ve elected to pack it in and come home rather than take any more risks. They also say that the weather forecast doesn’t look good in the days ahead, so hopefully the other climbers on both GI and GII are keeping an eye on the weather as well.

That’s about it for these two mountains. Activity is underway on both, with the hopes of summits soon, but weather is always dicey in the Karakorum. It’s possible that we won’t see any more summits this year, as the time is beginning to run short. Good luck to everyone in the next few days!

July 28th, 2009 by admin

The weekend was suppose to be Summit Day on both the Gasherbrums and K2, and while conditions improved on one of those peaks, the other sent teams scrambling back down the hill.

The big news for the weekend is that Veikka Gustafsson has completed the 14 8000 meter peaks, topping out on Gasherbrum I on Sunday. Veikka becomes the 17th person to bag all of the world’s tallest peaks, and he completed the task without supplemental oxygen as well. He and climbing partner Kazuya Hiraide set out from high camp just after midnight and arrived at the summit around 8 AM local time, where they were greeted with no winds and beautiful weather, and according to the latest dispatch from the mountain, both men are now safe and sound back in Base Camp.

Veikka and Kazuya’s summits weren’t the only ones on GI this weekend either, as several other teams topped out as well. ExWeb is reporting that the Bulgarian team of Nikolay Petkov, Doychin Boyanov, Boyan Petrov, and Nikolay Valkov all reached the summit on Sunday morning as well.

Meanwhile, over on K2, the weekend update isn’t so cheery. A number of teams attempted summit bids along both the Cesen Route and the Abruzzi Spur, but reports indicate that the conditions were too treacherous to proceed upward. The likelihood of avalanches were extremely high, and the climbers decided that discretion was the better part of valor and turned back well before the summit on both routes. All the teams are headed back to BC, where they’ll regroup and reassess their chances of making the summit this season.

July 26th, 2009 by admin

I mentioned a few days back that teams were in the midst of a summit push on both the Gasherbrums and K2, and according to ExWeb those bids are still in progress, although the weather is not cooperating as expected, and progress has been slowed somewhat. But, teams are still positoining themselves to top out this weekend, with Gasherbrum summits set for tomorrow and K2 on Sunday.

On Gasherbrum I, Veikka Gustafsson and climbing partner Kazuya Hiraide, spent yesterday stuck in Camp 2 due to a massive snowstorm, but they’ve begun climbing the mountain again, and are eyeing Sunday for their potential summit day. They report that winds have dropped some, but are still quite high.

There haven’t been any updates from the Altitude Junkies in a few days, and we can only assume that they remain in BC. Their forecasts told them there would be high winds on the Gasherbrums, so they were waiting it out, and hoping for the best. At this point, that seems like a really great decision. Their next update will probably be to announce the start of their summit bid.

On K2 a similar story is being told, with worse than expected weather. Despite that, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, David Göttler and Fabrizio Zangrilli are all into Camp 3 on the Cesen Route, where the Field Touring Alpine Team has climbed up to C2 themselves, and will go up to C3 tomorrow. While Gerlinde and the boys will continue up however, the FTA team is working on finishing up their acclimatization process, and will be heading back to BC over the weekend. They hope to begin their summit bid in the next 10-14 days.

Meanwhile, over on the Abruzzi Spur, teams are into C2 with reports of high winds, cold temps, and overcast skies. The weather reports say that conditions should be improving there as well however, and they’re on track for Sunday Summits as well.

Seems like it should be a very busy weekend in the Karakorum. Teams are on track provided the weather holds.