Karakoram Trekking and Climbing News
Karakoram Trekking and Climbing News
Big Congratulations to our 7 SummitClimbers, led by Dan Mazur and our strong friendly Sherpas, who just summited Broad peak and a big thank you to all of the family, friends, colleagues, and sponsors who supported them. Also, congratulations to the K2 Base Camp Trekkers. What a fantastic trek!
We look forward to seeing you on next year's K2SummitClimb.com , GasherbrumClimb.com , K2Trekking.com , and BroadPeakClimb.com and also for Cho Oyu, Lhotse, Everest Tibet, Everest Nepal, K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum 1, and Gasherbrum 2.
Blog posts: Scroll down for day by day news of our climbing and trekking teams.
29 July - Passing through beautiful Naran-Kagan valley. Fir tree lined slopes, pristine river gorges. Quaint villages with cute shops and restaurants.
28 July -
- Now atop 4176 metre high Babusar Pass, gateway to the biggest, greenest, lushest, alpine meadows in all Pakistan. Wildflowers and honeybees!
- We follow the spectacular rocky gorge of the Indus River. One of Earth's most massive, its filled with whitewater, cataracts, and rapids.
- Driving around mighty Mount Nanga Parbat. Said to be one of our world's most dangerous mountains, it juts straight up from desert to sky!
- Now we are driving the incredible KKH. Karakoram Highway, with road notched into cliff faces. A world class feat of engineering!
24 July - Today, we walked downriver through lush green forests and fields from Saicho campsite to Hushey Village and had a lovely lunch at Hassan's house. His family were very nice and the food was delicious. Then we drove back to Skardu and came to our comfortable hotel with soft beds, showers and abundant meals. Its great to be back and the weather is still very sunny!
Photo Blake
Photo Blake
Photo Blake
Photo Blake
Photo Blake
Photo Blake
23 July - Camping on the riverside at Saicho, not far from Masherbrum. Green trees, little birds flying around, rushing river, wildflowers abundant!
22 July - Crossed the mighty Gondogoro Pass today. Beautiful + challenging. We stared at Laila Peak, then walked just beneath. Someone skiied Laila?
21 July - Now in Ali Camp at 4900m resting before crossing the exciting Gondogoro pass tonight. This place is lovely. Moss, flowers, fresh water.
19 July - Packing up base camp, preparing for tomorrow's departure over the gondogoro la pass. Big weather change: heavy cloud cover on peaks. Oh no!
18 July - We all returned safely to basecamp. All camps, gear and rubbish removed from mountain. Horses and porters arriving tomorrow for trek home!
17 July - Today was a phenomenally sunny day. We all summited! No wind, no clouds, no snow. Great day for photograpghy. Love Broad Peak!
15 July - Claire, Patric, Blake, and Mark are all safe in basecamp. Eric, Henk, Dan, Jangbu, Hasan, and Dorje are all in camp 3. Going to summit.
14 July - Mark + Blake attempted summit from camp 3 today. Now safely back in c3, and coming down tomorrow. The rest of us are in c2 and plan to mo...
12 July - Summit time! Hasan, Blake, Mark try summit tomorrow. Jangbu, Patric, Eric, Dan go to C1 tomorow. Dorje, Claire, Henk climb to C2 next day.
10 July - Rest day base camp. Delicious fresh food. Hot showers. Clean laundry. Taking sunny naps on thick mattresses. Playing cards, telling stories
9 July - Abseiled/rappeled fixed lines from c3 to bc. 7 hours. C3: ice cold dizzying thin air. Bc: warm thick air, melting glaciers, rushing rivers.
8 July - We are c3 @ 6950m. Climb lovely snow gullies, across glaciers, bergschrunds, scree ridges. C3 is snow shelf tucked under the summit massif.
7 July - High winds pin us down in camp 2. We are meeting Dani Arnold, who climbed Eiger North Face 1 hour faster than Ueli Stek. all due respect.
6 July - Altitude training on Broad Peak, in front of mighty K2. Climb to 6500m past rock pinnacles + easy snow gullies. now in warm sun @ camp 2.
5 July - Rest, acclimatization day here in camp 2. Fine weather and all day panoramic views of all karakoram. Evening lite on k2 across valley.
4 July - Perfect easy fun snow climbing to camp 2 at 6182 metres. Lovely views, a few light clouds, tiny breeze. We are healthy and acclimating well
3 July -
- A spectacular day in camp 1. Gorgeous sunshine. K2 dominates the scenery, with Pastore trekking peak and Godwin Austin glacier. Beautiful.
- We are in camp 1 at 5600m. The sun is warming us nicely, highliting sparkling views of k2, concordia, pastore peak. Good weather continues!
2 July - Everyone climbed up to camp 1 and some camp 2. Snow conditions perfect. Sunny warm day. Sherpas carrying rope, tents, food, fuel. Making...
broad peak camp 1 Photo Mark
climbing towards camp 2. Flower on the way to k2 trek. Photo Mark
1 July - We are in Japanese camp 1 at 5360 metres. We are up here acclimatizing. Weather mixed snow and sun. Route is in good shape, lots of snow.
Mark at high camp in tent. Photo Mark
30 June -
- Ice climbing training in seracs near basecamp. Our Sherpas fixed rope and we practiced ice axe, crampons, jumars, figure-8. Superb training!
- Trekkers are on their way home. They had a beautiful trek, good weather, lots of fun. Sue, Karla, Correne, Janet, Lee we miss you very much.
29 June -
- Sunny trek to K2 Base and Gilkey Memorial. Today was a very important day. Time for reflection on what it means to climb these peaks.
- Sherpa prayer ceremony in basecamp to bless our expedition. Lots of chanting, singing, dancing and feasting beneath k2 + broad peak.
- We are preparing our climbing harness, ice axe, helmet, boots, crampons. Getting all gear ready for Broad Peak, exciting!
28 June - Today we built comfortable basecamp on the spectacular broad peak moraine with K2 towering above. A few snowflakes, blue sky and sun. All...
k2 and broad peak seen from distance. k2 trekking. Photo Mark
mount k2. Photo Mark
27 June -
- We are in basecamp. Superb trek with sunny views of k2, broad peak, concordia. Is the Karakoram the world's most beautiful mountain range?
- Today we walked to a grassy slope at 4600 metres near the junction of concordia and godwin austin glacier. Good weather, all are well.
25 June -
- We are in Gore 2, 4300 metres. Everyone is ok after a sunny gorgeous trek through mountain paradise. Today was best day of our trek so far!
- Evening rainfall in Urdukas. Now walking on sunny Baltoro glacier. 360 degree views of huge mountains. Amazing trek. Everyone healthy!
24 June -
- We are in Urdukas camp today at 4000m. Stunning views of the Trango group. All members well, excited to climb Broad Peak and trek to K2 basecamp
- Across the glacier on horse trails to 2 big beautiful lakes. Shoes off for short river crossing and now we reached our comfortable camp.
23 June -
- First steps on massive Baltoro glacier. Breathtaking views of Great Trango, Uli Biaho, Cathedral Peak.
- Beautiful rest day in Paiju. Delicious meals, laundry, showers, naps. Porters performed song and dance, beneath Trango.
Paiju Peak. Roaming round.
22 June - Rest Paiju. Our Dr Lee examines patients. A porter has trigger finger tendonitis. Must go Skardu
21 June - Walk to Paiju camp. Amazing views of Trango Tower. Excellent weather. Everyone feeling well.
Amazing views of Trango Tower valley.
20 June -
K2 river to Jola camp.
- We trekked up the K2 river to Jola camp. Sunny with a few showers. We found garnets
- Karla + Sue are teachers at home. We visited the Askole school, they made a generous donation!
19 June -
Trekkers are at Askole village.
- Askole Medical Clinic Update: Thanks to 2018 K2 trekkers, 2018 Broad Peak, and 2018 K2 expedition, we resupplied the Askole health clinic.
Askole Medical Clinic Update
- Entered K2 national park. Bumpy roads. Good jeeps + drivers. Ate fresh cherries+mulberries. Camping at Askole.
- We are going to Askole in AM
18 June - The Sherpas and our guide Mr. Baig and all of our luggage finally arrived in Skardu at 5am. It was a tough road journey for them, as there is a lot of road construction, so many delays. At one point a rock rolled off of a freshly blasted slope onto the roof of their van. Scary. We checked members gear and repacked our group equipment. Some members went to explore Kachura Lake and see the stone carving of the Buddha. In the afternoon we watched an exciting polo match, complete with live band. It was a wild game of "freestyle" polo with 6 riders/ponies per side and few if any rules. In the evening, we met at the office to meet a Balti climber who is going to join our team as a high altitude worker. His name is Mahmet Husain and he has climbed Broad Peak twice.
17 June - Today we had a delicious breakfast, then jeeped to the Deosai Plains at 4000 metres. There are still extensive patches of snow up there. Beautiful and good acclimatization. In the afternoon we explored the bazaar.
16 July - All of our members for BroadPeakClimb.com and K2Trekking.com have arrived safely and we flew to Skardu in good weather. We had majestic views of Mount Nanga Parbat along the way. Upon reaching Skardu we transferred to our lovely hotel with beautiful views across the Skardu Valley. Lots of snow on the peaks around here. After a delicious lunch we had a good wander around town, through the bazaar, and explored. Dinner was plentiful and we retired early, for much needed sleep after lots of travelling. We are finally here!
Broad Peak Team Roster:
- Dan Mazur (Leader), UK/USA
- Erik Z.
- Claire S.
- Blake T.
- Mark A.
- Henk W.
- Patric G.
K2 Trek
- Karla P.
- Sue D.
- Janet L.
- Lee L.
Pastore Peak
- Correne C.
Climbing Sherpa Team:
- Jangbu Sherpa (20 summits of Everest)
- AngDorjee Sherpa (6 summits of Everest)