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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Don & Bruce on the Summit of P.6150 as reported to Don's Support Team |
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On July 4th, Bruce and Don finally reached the summit of P.6150, the key to accessing the basin and continuing the approach to the North Ridge of Distaghil Sar. On the summit, the pair set up camp and recorded elevation via GPS as 6247 meters (20,495ft). This is the second time the summit of this peak was reached since Bruce first ascended it in 1999. Don & Bruce reported that climbing conditions on the once (relatively) easy ridge have since become considerably more complex due to cornices, seracs, and crevasses.
Snow conditions during the ascent were deep and unstable after the previous week's snowfall, further complicating the climbing. According to Bruce, "...from the summit the outlook was grim. Clearly, serious transformations had taken place to the entire northern aspect of Distaghil Sar and the basin below Yazghil Domes." Despite these observations, on July 5th Bruce and Don descended into the heavily crevassed basin toward the ridge, while Ben and Pete climbed to P.6150 and set up camp on the summit. More to follow soon...
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