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Don Bowie's Blog
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5 Jul 2010 12:00 AM |
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Welcome Back
by Don Bowie |
July 4, 2010
Alexey and I are back in base camp now, waiting out a spell of poor weather - along with most of the other teams. After we arrived at base camp on June 25th, Alexey and I sorted gear for a day or two, then immediately headed up the glacier to Camp 1. The route to Camp 1 seems more straightforward this year, and tackles the top of the icefall directly - which is a shorter journey than last year's more circuitous route, and requires careful negotiation of some seriously gaping crevasses. After setting up our tent at Camp 1 (5925 meters) we then rested a second day, lounging around in the sun and acclimatizing. My familiarity with the area did not even slightly diminish the magnitude of the surrounding peaks. In awe, I snapped a few pictures at sundown as the clouds swirled around GIV and GV. After the second night at Camp 1 we awoke to snowfall, fog, and extremely poor visibility- but the boredom of another day in the tent overtook us, and we packed up our tent and gear, roped up, and headed off into the fog toward GI. We were the first this year to make tracks away from the regular GII camp, and neither I nor Alexey had ever been in the cwm between GI and GII. We borrowed a few bamboo poles from the Brazilian/South American team camped nearby (a very friendly group - they are also on G1) and I fired up my GPS to mark our tracks. We had little idea where we were headed in the fog, but we knew the general direction, and after an hour or so reached the bottom of the icefall without incident. We slowly made our way up through the huge seracs of the icefall, climbing right-to-left on a broad, sweeping slope (disconcertingly loaded with fresh snow) until finally stopped by a huge, open crevasse which could not be avoided. We were now at around 6300 meters. The winds and blowing snow had increased significantly, and the temps dropped well below freezing. Looking for some shelter from the elements, Alexey climbed down a narrow ramp onto a massive snow bridge over the huge crevasse. There, under a teetering serac we set up camp. With a huge crevasse under our sleeping bags, a few tons of overhanging ice perched above, and snow and wind battering the tent walls, I now felt officially welcomed back to the Karakorum - and, I forgot to bring my Wiley Coyote umbrella again. The next day the weather had not improved, but despite the storm conditions we were able to find a way up through the serac band above to about 6400 meters - but eventually the wind, cold, and blowing snow fought us back down to the tent. We would not reach Camp 2 on GI on this trip, and even if we were close, we certainly couldn't see it. The next morning we realized that the Fruit Loops and Salt & Vinegar Pringles were all gone. So, before the wheels fell completely off the wagon, we packed up the tent and gear into a depot, broke trail down the icefall ramp onto the glacier, and walked through 20 to 30cm of fresh snow back to Camp 1. There we left a bag of gear and headed back down to base camp for showers, hot food, and a little R&R. Not a bad way to spend our first week here.    
June 27th, 2010
Travel in Pakistan has been difficult this year with poor weather beating up the roads and delaying flights into Skardu. Once again we were unable to fly up north and were forced to endure the grueling 24 hour bus ride up the Karakoram Highway - this time in non-stop fashion. I woke up in Skardu with my right cheek sporting an impressive macramé waffle pattern, courtesy the dirty window curtain I drooled on during the final 8 hours of the trip. Apparently, I can still manage to sleep practically anywhere required...
 
We'll depart base camp at 4am, so instead of a long text dispatch, I'll let a few photos do the talking for now. More to follow... Don
   
Click on pictures to enlarge
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16 Mar 2010 12:00 AM |
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Don's Upcoming Events
by Don Bowie |
(McMenamins Theater, Portland OR, Jan 2010) Don's Upcoming presentations are scheduled. All shows are open to the public! April 6- University of Montana, Missoula MT North Underground Lecture Hall, 7pm - April 7- Gonzaga University, Spokane WA Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium, 7pm - April 8- Idaho Mountain Touring , Boise ID Idaho Mountain Touring Store , 7pm - April 13- Helena Middle School, Helena MT Helena Middle School Theatre, 7pm - April 14- Montana Mountaineering Association, Bozeman MT (TBA) - April 15- Billings MT, (TBA) Come see K2...then stare at livestock.
A sincere thanks to all of you who have followed along with me on the 2009 Gasherbrum III Expedition.
As reported form Pakistan, we did not summit, but managed to establish a route up the lower west face of GIII. We then traversed back into the cwm to 7300meters before Bruce Normand came down with a debilitating altitude illness. When his blood-oxygen saturation dropped to below 40%, things got a little dicey. Despite zero visibility and many harrowing rappels down the center of the icefall, we all managed to make it back to our high camp. As I reported in my last dispatch, Bruce is a very strong guy - and he stuck it out despite his severely weakened state. We now look back to that time with typical climber nonchalantness - a resident (and convenient) characteristic of those who continue to push the limits of higher exploration. A few days after getting back to base camp, we planned to return to Camp 2 to retrieve our tents and gear. Before our departure I managed to contract some flu-like sickness, so my partners headed up without me. A clear weather window enticed the boys to make another summit shot, and despite being very tired from our prior attempt they made it back up to our high point of 7300meters. Look up the word "stubbornness" in the dictionary to see images from this attempt. Yet, despite sunny days and a promising forecast, the fatigue of altitude forced them back down; a strong effort in my book.
A few days later we left base camp for home. (FYI- for security reasons I don't report our travel progress in Pakistan.) A special thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and support for us during those difficult days on the mountain. Also, a special thanks to my expedition partners: Bruce Normand, Guy McKinnon and Billy Pierson for their commitment, drive, and teamwork. Spirit fingers everybody. (Spirit fingers: See video if you don't get that---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDbnkfHtD_E Next on the agenda for me is a K2 Multimedia Presentation speaking tour - coming to a theater near you. As new dates and specific locations are confirmed they will be added to the events calendar on this website (click on "events" on top tool bar). Here's a quick synopsis of dates and places:
Sept 15-Oct 6th Northern Europe.
Oct 6- Oct 31st Midwest USA
Nov 10th-Dec1st Western Canada
If you are in these regions and interested in booking this presentation at your school, club, charity event, corporation, baby shower, etc., please contact Jill at info@calpinist.com.
Hope to see you out there!
Don
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