Bad weather has thwarted all attempts to reach the summit of Broad Peak and diminished hopes for K2 climbers, especially since the worst of the storm is yet to come.
Further down the valley, the consequences of the heavy rains are catastrophic. The Baltoro has been isolated since floods swept away a suspension bridge in Shigar.
K2 summits in peril
“A major storm is approaching K2, bringing heavy snow, strong winds, and freezing temperatures,” Mingma David Sherpa of Elite Exped wrote today. He and his team remain in Base Camp, ready to ride out the storm and wait for the mountain to improve afterward before making a decision.
If the situation is dire for guided climbers, it is worse for those without oxygen. Santiago Quintero of Ecuador, who was climbing with Sajid Sadpara of Pakistan (also no-O2), has cancelled his attempt. Quintero and Sadpara had done two rotations. Both times, but especially on the latest trip up to Camp 2, they had several close calls with falling rocks.
“The peak cannot be climbed at present, [in these] highly dangerous conditions,” Quitero noted. “It’s a deadly gamble, and without a proper Camp 3 and a complete acclimatization, it makes no sense to try.”
Quitero admitted the only option would be to buy four bottles of O2 and a porter to carry them up, but he does not have that extra $6- $7,000. “In addition, I don’t want to risk an accident,” he noted.
He managed to return to Skardu, although some trails are blocked or flooded at the moment.
Same on Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak
A small group of climbers summited Gasherbrum I last week, and Nirmal Purja followed with regular client and Qatari royal Asma Al Thani and a strong support team. However, no one has summited GII this season. The mountain has no fixed ropes, and some teams are reportedly giving up.
Charles Dubouloz of France has done two rotations in the Gasherbrums with climbing partner Symon Welfringer. Over the last few days, they have endured everything from scorching heat to near-constant snowfall. Yet he still hopes to launch an alpine-style push on one of the peaks in the region. They have not confirmed their specific plans, but a previous post by Welfringer suggests they could be willing to return to their original goal of the west face of Gasherbrum IV, if conditions improve.
On Broad Peak, bad weather thwarted the few climbers who launched a summit attempt. Madison Mountaineering reported that their small group (a client with two Sherpa guides) and three other similarly sized groups tried to break trail in fresh snow but turned around before reaching the Broad Peak col because of a storm and whiteout conditions.
Clouds on Broad Peak from Camp 1. Photo: Lukasz Supergan
Altitude thieves
To make things worse, climbers are reporting thefts in the higher camps again this season. Climbers and staff use others’ tents — that’s normal and okay as long as they ask permission — but the camp crashers also reportedly stole gear, fuel, and food.
Tent in a high camp on Broad Peak. Photo: Lukas Supergan
“Losing even a small item can mean that a year of preparation, thousands of dollars, and a 1.5-month expedition will be wasted because the equipment needed on summit day has disappeared,” Lukasz Supergan reported.
He also mentioned a specific case: “Two weeks ago, my friend’s crampons disappeared from his tent. It transpired that a Nepalese guide had taken them and used them for 10 days. After a brief investigation, I found them in his agency’s tent,” Supergan said.
He added that some people who had recently gone up to the summit “despite the obviously bad forecast,” used their tents in Camp 3.
Finally, he also reported problems with a different type of thief: Crows pecked holes in one of his tents and ate all the food.
Gilgit-Baltistan disaster area
Unless conditions improve quickly, we might end up seeing a season without summits on K2, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum II. Conditions are only expected to worsen, and the teams are approaching the end of their planned stays. Both their climbing permits and the period that they have contracted with the agencies will expire soon.
That’s frustrating for climbers, but the heavy rains have disrupted daily life for the local communities down the Baltoro.
This year, the monsoon has slipped into normally dry northern Pakistan. Floods and landslides have stranded thousands of locals and travelers in Gilgit-Baltistan. Even the Karakoram Highway is blocked at some points.
The situation is particularly serious in Diamir, near Nanga Parbat. At least six tourists have died in landslides near Babusar Pass, and many others had to be rescued and taken to Chilas, where authorities and local hoteliers are putting them up, Dawn reported.
“Moreover, river erosion caused the collapse of the Hotu suspension bridge in Shigar, cutting off the only access to K2 Base Camp,” the paper noted. “A large number of foreign expedition members and trekkers were stranded, while eight villages were also disconnected.”
On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera published a tally of 21 people killed by flash floods in northern Pakistan and at least 200 more rescued during this rainy spell.
