Karakorum Update: More Summits On Broad Peak

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By: Kraig Becker
Updated:
1


ExWeb has all the skinny on what’s happening in Pakistan once more today, beginning with this story that nearly 40 climbers topped out on Broad Peak yesterday.

It seems the wind was quite nasty for those that went up to the summit, be despite all that, there was great success on the mountain. Marco Confortola finished off a successful 2007 season by summitting BP, as well as Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma. I think he’s earned a well deserved rest. Italian Simone La Terra also had a successful summit on Broad Peak, but that only puts him a quarter of the way to his goal, as he has plans to move on to K2 and both Gasherbrums before he leaves the Karakorum.

Speaking of K2, word is that the Kazakh Team, consisting of erguey Brodsky, Serguey Bogomolov, Andrew Puchinin and Malik Ismetov, on the Northwest Ridge have established C1 at 5700 feet. The first step in conquering that massive wall. Meanwhile, over on Nanga Parbat, nasty weather has moved in, delaying summit bids there. Dodo Kopold’s team is at C4 and plans to stay there through the weekend due to high winds during the day and thick fog at nights. The Chilean Team has also set off from C3 to climb up to C4 to wait for their chance to go for the summit as well.

Swiss climber Ueli Steck also reports in on his Annapurna climb from back in May. Ueli acclimatized on Cholatse and Pumori before going for Annapurna, but was struck on the head by a rock as he climbed, ending his chances at the summit. He had intended to go up solo and alpine style and reports that he was feeling very strong, but has no memories of what happened when the rock struck him somewhere between 5800 and 5900 meters. He recalls waking up face down in the snow, and being completely lost on the mountain. He vows to go back and try again, as a freak accident like this can be hard to predict. The article is a good read, and offers some nice insights and details.

Finally, there is word that 10 Chinese, Tibetan and Pakistani climbers summitted Gasherbrum I, also known as “Hidden Peak”. Amongst them was JiJi Zaxi, the widow of Rena Zaxi. Rena was killed on the Karakorum Highway by a massive rockslide back in 2005 as he was preparing to climbing Hidden Peak. I’m sure it was both a painful and glorious experience for Jiji to go up the mountain.

Kraig Becker
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