Waiting for a summit window

July 7

We’ve been at base camp for 3 days now after our last push up the mountain—we
spent the night of July 4th at camp 3, over 22,000ft. As we ate our
freeze-dried dinners huddled in two tents, we shouted “Happy Fourth of July”
back and forth between tents. The views more than made up for the lack of
fireworks and red-white-and-blue dessert buffets—even as tired as we were it
was amazing to see all of the surrounding peaks as the sun was setting.

On the 5th of July, we made our way all the way back down to base camp, and
we’ve been in hog heaven (well, compared to up on the mountain—in base camp you can eat Dedar’s home-cooked Pakistani meals as opposed to freeze dried food and gels, sleep well in your perfectly nested tent as opposed to the restlessness that sometimes comes at night at altitude, and drink plenty of “du chai,” the milk tea that tastes so awesome and that our cook is constantly making for us)ever since.

All of our technology here at base camp—Kris and John even set up a makeshift
computer desk in our TNF dome consisting of two boxes spanned by some
Styrofoam, for editing and uploading and such—depends on solar power. We were lucky on the 4 days we were up on the mountain to have sunny weather, but since we’ve been back in base camp it’s been mostly cloudy with some occasional drizzle; fine for resting at base camp but not so good for all of the computer and battery needs, which is why we haven’t been able to post our dispatches until today. So, if you’re wondering why we can’t always be as prompt as possible with our blogging, that’s the reason.

And now, having had a few days to rest, we’re all ready to get back on the mountain for our final push. However, like the tech stuff, we’re also now waiting on weather. It’s supposed to be unsettled for the next few days, getting worse towards the end of the week, after which we might have a good enough window to climb back up. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, we’ll be figuring out how to finagle another invite down to the Italian camp to snack on some more homemade cheese…..!

Ingrid Backstrom

Camp 2 & Camp 3

July 7

Heading to Camp 3 I am beginning to understand what makes high altitude climbing so hard, there is no air to BREATH! Eating is hard, sleeping is harder and that stinging headache won’t go away.

On our last push, the fourth up the icefall and our final before our summit attempt, we made it to camp 3 to spend the night. From Camp 1 to Camp 2 everyone seemed to be doing well. We all had heavy packs with our skis and gear for up higher. The ropes we fixed earlier on the Banana worked well and allowed us to make good time. Here we had some amazing views looking back toward Base Camp and we could realize our progress. After some rest we decided that we should start to break the trail toward Camp 3 and begin fixing lines for the next day. Kris, Jon and Kim made it about half way to Camp 3, breaking trail and fixing lines. By the time we caught up with them they decided it was time to turn around so we left a tent and some rope there and headed back to Camp 2.

At first our freeze-dried meals for up high on the mountain were a great compliment for our American palates but now they are starting to lose their appeal and aren’t such a treat. It seems for all the work we are doing we should be eating more. I still get excited for my freeze-dried Beef Stroganoff but have a hard time eating all of it now. The high altitude weight loss plan!
The perch that is Camp 2 slowly began to seem further below has we made our way to Camp 3. Each step up meant that each breath provided less of the Oxygen needed to move forward. Camp 3, located high on the shoulder below the summit pyramid, is beautiful. From 22,750 ft. we can look down onto the Baltoro Glacier, can see into India and out into the mighty Karakoram. We were left alone at Camp 3 to take advantage of what little Oxygen was there. Sleep here was restless and not that comfortable but should help with acclimatizing.

From our high point at Camp 3 we descended all the way back to Base Camp for some quality rest before we will attempt the summit. It is hard to leave Camp 3 knowing that we will have to climb the six thousand feet back to Camp 3 before we attempt the summit.

Now we will wait for some good weather, let’s hope we get some. Our time is coming to an end and we need a few good days so we can try for the summit.

Kip Garre

The Push to Camp 3

July 7

June 30th was a great team day- we have befriended the Italian team, and after their hospitality the night before, they joined us for coffee late morning. Our supplies are beyond limited and so we enjoyed great coffee and great company up at our site at BC. They are energetic, positive, and vibrant people to be around, and we all greatly appreciate the ambiance they create. That same evening, our team watched “Scrapple”, a classic Telluride film, in our fab TNF dome tent. For Hil and I, it was a nice little slice of home.
We ended up heading to Camp 1 on the 2nd of July, due to inclement weather the day before. Another 3am start got us rolling with the ladies as one rope team and the fellas as another. The afternoon at C1 was extremely warm as we geared up for our next push to Camp 2 & 3.

The morning of the 3rd, our team as a whole headed to Camp 2. Hil, Kip and I brought our skis. There was more tent maintenance and camp set up once we arrived but we had the camp to ourselves, more or less. We have been about a day or so ahead of the masses so far and that has allowed us more freedom and privacy on the ropes and at camp.

Early afternoon on the 3rd, John, Kris and I set out to break trail and fix lines to Camp 3 for the next day push. The Swiss team’s Sherpas (whom they flew in from Nepal) followed up behind us about 4 hours later and finished where we left off. The three of us had an incredible afternoon being on the front line again as we worked the route up to about 22,000ft. Griber had some great cliffhanger moves as we moved up the mountain, as this section actually had more ice, exposure and steepness to it then the route to Camp 2 (which is different from years past). Kip and Hil joined us later, after working on tent platform maintenance etc that morning.

On July 4th, Kris, Griber, Ingrid, Kip and I headed up to Camp 3 at 22,750ft. It was slow going once again as we were the first team to move up on the new section, and encountered mixed conditions from pure ice to isothermic snow. We all got to Camp 3 between roughly 3-5 hours, after an 8:30am start from Camp 2. Camp 3 is situated on a steeper snow ridge, and so upon arrival, we had to again dig out tent platforms into the steep and exposed hillside. Kris had already dug out one platform as we all rolled in one by one.
Our ski gear is now scattered about the mountain due to how we individually approached our loads. John, Kris and Ingrid have their gear at Camp 1, Kip and Hil at Camp 2, and mine is at Camp 3. We are constantly and carefully evaluating the ski route and are proceeding with caution as to what sections (if not all) can be skied safely. The mountain has changed dramatically in the past five years, according to several climbers that are here that have been here before, including the Italians. As the conditions are a moving target, we will make decisions based on what is before us on our summit push.

On the 5th of July, the five of us traveled from Camp 3 back to BC. The icefalls are changing rapidly as summer continues, and the melting within the route is extraordinary. It may take some time in our future trip/s to detour from the original route to avoid the opening crevasses and glacial pools.
Now that all of us are back at BC, we await another weather window and are resting up for a summit attempt, which may be a few days away. As soon as we get a good 4 day stretch, some of us will move from BC to Camp 2 direct, and another group will go from BC to Camp 1 to Camp 2. From there, we will have to monitor our progress from Camp 2 to the summit…it is all weather and conditions permitting.

To date, we all are really pleased with the style in which we have climbed the mountain- carrying our own loads, hauling shared fixed line, fixing the route, breaking trail, etc. Each camp arrival has been a success in and of itself, and we are looking forward to going for the summit as a team of 6.

Kim Havell