BROAD PEAK WINTER 2008
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THE GEOGRAPHY: Broad Peak is part of the Gasherbrum massif on the border of Pakistan-China. It is located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from K2. Broad Peak was originally named K3 right after the naming of K2 but on closer inspection by a later party, it was discovered that the summit was over 1½ kilometers (1 mile) long, thus "Broad Peak".
THE HISTORY: In spite of several attempts, none of Pakistan’s 8000ers have been summited in winter. On Broad Peak in Particular, Italian Simone Moro and Pakistani climbers Shaheen Baig and Qudrat Ali have been rejected by loads of snow, bitter cold and bad conditions for the past two years. |
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| Dr. Robert Szymczak has been in expeditions to Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Pakistan. He is a medical doctor specializing in high altitude medicine. He is also a member of the International Society for Mountain Medicine. More... |
2008 marks Don Bowie's 4th season climbing in the Himalayas, with previous expeditions to Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, K2, and the South Face/East Ridge of Annapurna in 2006 and 2008. More... |
Artur Hajzer has summited five eight-thousanders: three of them via new routes. He also achieved the first winter climb on Annapurna. More... |
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A Less Than Favorable Window (Dispatch: Don's Support Team) |
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Don was glad to report that after his climb with the Russians he had acclimatized and was now back in sync with his partners, Inaki and Horia. After a couple of days rest in Base Camp they once again began climbing together. They set out on May 3rd and eventually arrived in Camp 2 the following day. Daily clouds blanketed Annapurna 1 with frequent snow showers and moderate winds. Don believed the weather was deteriorating and the accumulating snowfall would make for difficult climbing, especially on the wall. Inaki called the Meteotest Mountain Weather forecaster on behalf of the team to determine if there was a weather window favorable for summiting. Meteotest informed him of the weather forecast. Don concluded from this feedback that "pushing for the summit over the next days was not advisable." A discussion ensued as to whether to continue their summit bid. Three different opinions emerged. Based on the information from Meteotest and the prevailing conditions, Don felt strongly that the wisest thing was to return to base camp and wait for a more favorable weather window. Horia insisted on continuing their push for the summit. All three returned to base camp on May 5th. Shortly thereafter, Horia and Inaki decided to part ways with Don and climb on their own. The twosome has since returned up the mountain. Don is currently awaiting suitable conditions before he resumes climbing Annapurna 1. Based on the likelihood of avalanches and even bigger amounts of snowfall that are forecast this weekend, Don intends to stay on at base camp. He feels that the weather looks more promising for climbing early this coming week. He’ll keep you posted as he formulates his plans to make another summit bid. |
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