Several teams are on the move on Broad Peak, GII and K2
A South Korean climber and a Nepali Sherpa have conquered Nanga Parbat “the killer mountain” the first summit of the summer season, media reports say.
Kim Hong Bin of South Korea and Lakpa Nuru Sherpa of Nepal reached the summit on Friday evening, after enduring several days of cold and hunger at a 7200m altitude of Nanga Parbat.
They had left the Base Camp (BC) on June 30th and spent three days (July 4 to 6) at Camp 4 at an altitude of 7200m owing to continuous snow and false starts to go to the top. They made the final push on July 7th and reached the summit at around sunset, the web portal reported. They rested at camp4 and reached camp 2 on Sunday.
Six more climbers –Luo Jing from China, Naoko Watanabe from Japan and four Sherpas from Nepal – also reached the summit on Saturday.
It was the Korean climber’s 11th 8,000-meter high peak he has conquered so far in the world. He has conquered three of the five highest peaks in Pakistan. He has to climb three more 8,000 peaks – two in Pakistan and one in Nepal – to set a new record of summiting all 14 peaks of 8,000rs. Kim climbed K2 in 2012. He has also climbed Gasherbrum-I.
Kim who has lost almost all his fingers several years ago due to frostbite but that did not dampen his determination and ambition to achieve his goal.
It was good news after two veteran climbers the missing Alberto Zerain from Spain and Mariano Galacan from Argentina went missing on the mountain last month. They are presumed to have been killed in an avalanche on June 27.
Broad Peak and Gasherbrum
The bad weather has stalled some climbers’ summit push on Broad Peak. Multiple climbers have been aiming to reach the summit since July 8. However, excessive snow and sudden change unpredictable changes in weather conditions above camp 3 thwarted the first group’s attempt. The perfect “no snow, no wind” forecast turned into one-meter snow with strong winds overnight, the web portal reported. Some teams are heading back to base Camp. While others are waiting for a clear window to make the final push, seven expedition teams are attempting Broad Peak, including some climbers acclimatising for K2. Oscar Cadiach, a veteran climber from Spain, is aiming for his final 8,000-meter high peak. He is accompanied by Tunc Findik, Ali Sadpara from Baltistan, two Austrians and a
German climber. Despite the snow, they continue the ascent and have reached above 6800m altitude on way to camp 3 on July 8.
Some teams are on the move on Gasherbrum, reports Explorersweb. Alberto Inurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza have launched summit push. They reached camp1 on July 8.
The weather is expected to remain favourable for four days. They intend to link Gasherbrum-I and G-II summits. Another team comprised of Mathieu, Jeremy Rumebe, Guillaume Vallot and Colin Haley have completed acclimatisation on GII and is ready to launch the summit push. Their initial plan was to summit during the current weather window.
Bulgarian climbers, Boyan Petrov and Salvi Nestorov’s summit plans are apparently not final yet. Czech climber Marek Holecek is still acclimatising for his new route attempt on the southwest face of Gasherbrum-I. He has reached 6,400m.
K2
Teams are on the move on the second highest mountain in the world after a break. They have set up camp2 and are fixing routes for camp3. “We want to install some guardrails near camp1 and also try to set up camp 3. We hope to make it down to the base camp for the evening”, wrote Andrzej Bargiel from Poland on July 7. He intends to ski down K2. Another skier Davo Karnicar has abandoned his bid to ski down due to health issues and overall bad conditions on the mountain.
An international team led by Vanessa O’Brien is at Camp-1. Other larger teams like Himex and the Polish national team plan to reach high camps during this weather window.
