Don Bowie has posted a good update to his blog today giving us all the details on his struggles to get off Broad Peak, and back to civilization following an attempt on Broad Peak in the winter.
Regular readers will remember that Don, and a team of excellent climbers, set out to the Karakorum back in December with the intent of claiming the first winter summit of an 8000m peak in that range. They struggled mightily for 70 days before bad weather, and dwindling supplies took their toll. The team decided to pack-up show, and head home. That was on the 24th of February. Don just got home last week.
In this blog post, he begins to tell the tale of the trek out from base camp. When you're on these big mountains, the climb is only part of the adventure, and when it's all done, you still have to hike your way back to civilization. That's not easy in best of conditions, as climbers tend to be exhausted and nursing a few injuries. Try doing it in the winter, with a couple of meters of snow on the ground too. On top of that, Don managed to sprain a ligament just five minutes after departing BC, and was left with days of walking, through deep snow, with a bum wheel.
He promises more of an update tomorrow to continue telling the story. Very interesting and compelling so far. Oh, and check out his video below to get an idea of what conditions were like on BP in the last few days there.
Boiler-Plate Ice Slopes from Calpinist.com on Vimeo.
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