The cooks think we are nuts. Yesterday we woke them at 3 a.m. to make us breakfast. Six hours later we straggled back to camp, most of the gang being repulsed by a snow storm on K2, and me wandering in from Broad Peak. The smiling cooks made us a second breakfast.
This morning the community needed to take care of some grim business. Three mornings ago, a catastrophic avalanche swept the base of the SSE Spur. Six Sherpas and Pakistani high altitude porters were caught in the tidal wave of ice and snow that tore down the gully. A Pakistani porter was hit by massive chunks of ice and was killed instantly. The remainder of the porters and Sherpas were OK, despite some being hit and all nearly being killed.
The Spanish team, whose porter was killed, called for a helicopter to carry the body back to the town of Skardu so his family can perform the ceremonies they need. Unfortunately, the unsettled weather prevented the helicopter from arriving. So this morning about 40 of us carried the body, on a makeshift stretcher the five miles down valley to the military outpost at Concordia.
Things on K2 and all of the surrounding peaks are very uncertain right now. The bad weather and tight schedules have caused at least four expeditions to end their trips without getting anywhere near their chosen summits. The highest any teams have gotten on K2 is 7,000 meters on the SSE Spur and on the Abruzzi Spur. Right now five or so climbers are trying to force the route on Broad Peak, despite less than ideal conditions.
The winds above 8,000 meters have been blowing between 50-100 mph almost daily, although micro-holes in the weather have shown us sunny and calm conditions lasting no longer than 20 minutes on most days. Above 6,000 meters the winds make it difficult to even spend a night, as the tents are tossed about and half buried by blowing snow. The weather forecasts are not reliable. Today the weather was supposed to be horrible and it is by far the best day we've seen in two weeks.
Having said all of that, a handful of us will try to reach Camp 1 on the Abruzzi Ridge tomorrow. If it is possible we will stay up in an effort to reach Camp 3. At this stage in the expedition it is critical for us to get as high as possible, allowing our bodies to readjust to the rarified air. Too much sitting around, and even the short bursts we've been making to 6,200 meters, is not helping us get closer to the summit of K2.
We do have almost all of the group gear and half of our personal gear in place at Camp 2, so despite the horrible weather, we really aren't in such desperate straits. A conservative shopping list would ask for three nice days in the next week to help us acclimatize, followed by four-to-six days of light winds so we can summit. There is still plenty of time before we have to pack up.
OK, we're moving forward, as the weather allows.