It looks like the action is starting to heat up in Pakistan as climbers depart the Himalaya and head to the Karakorum. We already knew that climbers were into base camp on K2, but other peaks in the region are beginning to see traffic as well.
K2Climb.net updated today with an overview of the region starting with K2 itself, where Wilco van Rooijen's team is already working away at the Cesen Route. The team has already climbed up to Camp 1 and have shuttled up some gear, including lots of rope, to begin the process of setting down the fixed lines. While there, a large avalanche occurred when a serac collapsed above them, covering their intended route, but causing no injuries. As of now, this is still the only team on the mountain, where they report sunny skies, but nasty winds over the past few nights.
Other climbers are making their plans for the coming weeks as well, with Marco Confortola announcing that he's home now from Everest, but will soon leave for K2. Similarly, Nicholas Rice is heading to the Karakorum to tackle both K2 and Broad Peak this summer as part of two French expeditions.
Last week we heard that the Himalayan Trptych climb finished off the first stage of their adventure by knocking off Ama Dablam and nearly reaching the summit on Annapurna. Now, the team has moved on to stages two and three that will see them making traverses of first all three Gasherbrum peaks and then moving on to make a traverse of Broad Peak as well. No rest for the weary I suppose. My legs hurt just thinking about it.
More to come I'm sure. Teams are just now hitting Islamabad, and the base camps on the Karakorum peaks will soon be filling up. Should be an active year in the region.
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