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... | ||
| Don and Denis Urubko are on the mountain |
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Pablo Ochoa de Olza reports "Don and Denis are between C1 and C2, going up like rockets and will reach Inaki sometime in the next 24 hours." They are climbing with a Nepalese Sherpa, carrying O2 for Inaki and additional high altitude gear for Ueli. They spent 8 hours rapidly gaining elevation in deep snow that hampered their ascent. They hope to reach Inaki and Ueli tomorrow.
Kaldo Aldaz the cheif coordinator of the rescue efforts soberly commented: "They (Don and Denis together with Ueli) would not be enough to bring Inaki down. The rescue effort will need as many as possible to get as high as possible and as fast as possible."
Tomorrow the weather forecast is perfect, especially in the morning. 06:00 Nepal time or earlier, a third rescue team should arrive on the mountain. They comprise 1 Polish Doctor, 5 Nepalese who are climbing Sherpas, and 2 Romanian climbers. With them they have a pressure bag, O2 and additional medicines for all. They will fly to C1 or C2 weather permitting. |
