K2 – Risk

NB. update 13 May 2010…for any K2 or Karakoram climbers in the 2010 season I have three new cylinders of Poisk oxygen in Skardu that are for sale email Sean on venture@hot.co.za 

K2’s summit was first reached in 1954.  Since then and after thousands of attempts, only 299 of the finest climbers in history have repeated that.  The odds of success are affected by storms and high winds, snow conditions, rock fall, crevasses, avalanches, physical and mental fatigue, malnutrition and dehydration, hyperthermia and frostbite, high altitude pulmonary and cerebral oedema, equipment quality, navigation and climbing skills, stamina and endurance.  Before I left home, I realised that K2 is– simply put – a game of calculated Russian roulette.  And now, having been up to Camp 2 and preparing to move higher up the mountain, I’ve started asking myself how much risk is manageable?

Our plan, now that we are moving to the upper part of the mountain, is to fix lines to Camp 4 at 8000 meters on the Shoulder.  This will minimise the risk when down climbing from Camp 4 back to Base Camp and it’s a relatively comforting thought.  But what is above the Shoulder and the Bottleneck?  I don’t want to run too far ahead because at the moment there is a lot of snow around.  Later on, breaking trail through that deep snow and above 8000 meters will be severely testing.  Only time will tell.

We are going up tomorrow, to try to establish Camp 3 (at approx 7300m) on Sunday.  News is that the Swiss expedition further down the moraine packed up and left this morning.

 
Guided treks & expeditions with Sean: Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Everest Base Camp, Mt Aconcagua, Mt Elbrus and Mt Kenya.  www.seanwisedale.com / katherine@seanwisedale.com

Tags: Camp 3, Guided expeditions, K2, K2 risk, Sean Wisedale, Summit