Monday, July 16, 2007

Trouble on Broad Peak??


Another update from K2Climb.net this morning, this one focusing on Broad Peak where teams are reporting summits, but also concern for other climbers. Apparently high winds may have stranded a number of climbers at the high camps, and are preventing them from making their descents. At this time there is no confirmation of these teams being stuck, but reports from the mountain indicate that several teams were trying to wait out the weather before coming down. The weather was expected to improve throughout today.

Meanwhile, Nick Rice, an American climber, who is on BP independently under the ATP permit, reported that one of the members of the ATP team had not yet descended from the summit to BC. No names were given as of yet, but the climber may have made it down with out Nick knowing, or may be one of the climbers still at a higher camp waiting out the storm. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the person is safe and sound.

The same update has news from other Karakorum peaks as well. On K2, the Russian team on the West Face stayed high on the mountain over the weekend, despite inclement weather. Their climbers in C4 report avalanches and heavy snow in the area. Meanwhile, the other Russian team has established C4 at the Abruzzi Spur, and report that there are no other tents there, indicating the already established C4 of the Korean team has been blown off the mountain. Other reports indicate that a number of climbers have moved to the K2 BC following their summits on Broad Peak. Indications are that a weather window will open this week, so many are hoping to make summit bids soon.

On Gasherbrum, the FTA Team is hoping to put four on top this week, sending them up from BC today. They report that other teams have set out in front of them as well. As if climbing one of the Gasherbrums wasn't enough, Jean Troillet has announced that his team will go for all four 8000m Karakorum peaks this season. They will start with GII, then move to Hidden Peak, followed by Broad Peak, then ending up on K2. You can read more about this ambitious plan here.

Update: More news regarding stranded climbers on Broad Peak. EverestNews.com is also reporting that climbers may be stuck on the mountain with a Serb team returning to BC and reporting that conditions are awful and that there were others still up in the high camps, or trying to make their way down in bad weather. The serbs were unsure as to the conditions of other climbers still on BP.

Lets hope the weather clears soon, and that everyone still on Broad Peak makes it down safely.

No comments:

Post a Comment