Broad Peak Winter Update: Out of Time!

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By: Kraig Becker
Updated:
1

Climbing onBroadPeak
Simone Moro posted another update today from his expedition website updating us on the team’s latest, and final, summit bid on Broad Peak. We learned late last week that they were running out of food and kerosene and were nearing their physical limits, but were attempting one final shot at the summit this weekend, hoping beyond hope that the weather would give them a shot.

According to Simone’s post, the weather was indeed good, but the climbing was challenging and demanding. He and Shahenn went as high as 7800m, putting them just 247m from the top, but a glance at his watch showed that it was after 2 PM, and far too late to continue up to the summit. In his own words, Simone puts it like this:

“To go to the summit I had to climb 2 hours more and to be on the Broad Peak summit at 4:00 p.m in winter, is a suicide…”

And with that, this year’s attempt is over. The team turned back to Camp 3, and from there they’ll make their way down the mountain, and back to civilization. They’re out of food, out of gas, and out of time. Simone talks about how tough it was to turn back, with the summit so close, but that he knew it was the right decision.

With the team packing up and heading for home, another winter passes without a successful summit on an 8000m peak in the Karakorum. This is the second year in a row that Simone has had to go home, and it’s unclear if he’ll make another attempt. I’m sure he’ll want to go home see his family and consider his options. Despite not reaching the top, he, Shahenn and Quadrat, who turned back due to extremely cold feet, should hold their heads up high. They overcame a lot of obstacles just to be on the mountain and they gave it their best shot. But winter in the Karakorum is a tough adversary and not one that will give up the summit easily.

Great work guys. And good decision to come home in one piece.

Kraig Becker
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