Here is a trip report with a little bit more detail of the expedition
After 2 days of air travel we finally arrived in Islamabad. It was after midnight when we checked into our hotel and we had looked forward to sleeping in a bed. We were greeted by the Broad Peak leader to inform us that due to not being able to get a flight we would be leaving by bus early in the morning, or more accurately in just under 4 hours time.Most of the expedition packed on to 2 mini buses and we started the first of a two day trip on the Karakoram Highway or the KKH. The streets of Islamabad quickly changed to dusty roads and farm land. We were greeted by one lane bridges, army check points, tanks and many staring faces.
When the sun set a security escort was provided. That changed at each check point from a police officer sitting on our bus to a police car with flashing light driving in front of our vehicle. The escort was to provide safety from the Taliban. Our destination for the night was Chilas, we arrived at 1 am, dinner was offered but sleeping in a bed we decided was a better idea.
In the morning we woke to a beautiful view of the river and valley, but also realised that we were in a compound with armed guard and barbed wire fences.We also discovered that we had likely cracked the sump on our bus and we would be leaving once it was repaired... inshalla. Once again on our way we had spectacular views of Nanga Parbat and saw where the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindus Kush meet. The road soon changed to a small, dirt and one lane on the side of a cliff. Looking down at the river 300-400 metres below, we were all very nervous.
We arrived in Skardu after over 36 hours on the bus and were greeted with a magnificent BBQ, a soft bed and what we thought would be hot showers. These would have to wait til tomorrow after the plumber could be found to fix our shower.We spent the next few days in Skardu picking up last minute items and eating as much as we could.The expedition finally began to feel like it was starting, we all sorted gear in to barrels that were then packed onto jeeps for transport to Askole.
The road to Askole was another long jeep ride on very thin road on the side of a cliff. We thought we were lucky having the only jeep that was enclosed but soon discovered this only made the jeep a greenhouse. It was either dust or heat, we all voted for dust but our friendly Liaison Officer overruled us and we suffered in the heat.One mentionable place was a water fall that was running over the road, that turn out to be more of a mud slide. We drove through it and soon discover the mud blocking the view of our driver, who then had to drive with his head out the window. The following day a jeep (with no one in it) slipped in to the river in the exact same place. Arriving in Askole was a relief, it was the first night in a tent and finally we looked like we would be starting the trek.
The team was divided into those travelling to K2 base camp first and those going to Broad peak first. Sacha and I soon started to get to know our group of Broad Peak climbers. We went to bed early but were soon reminded of lunch the previous day, our first case of gastroenteritis on the trip. The trek to Jola we were accompanied by our 250 porters, goats and chickens. The track was along the side of cliff, river and on moraine. The wind blew fiercely all day and once again we were greeted with dust. There was more than one rickety bridge crossing but luckily a new bridge had been constructed to the camp so the crossing by a wire was not necessarily. At camp we were greeted by pit toilets and a fairly comfortable camp site.
The walk to Paiyu we had incredible views of the terminal end of the glacier and of many peaks. The long line of porters showed us the way to camp. That night we arrived in Paiyu after 8-9 hours, after waiting for our tents to arrive and setting them up it started to snow lightly, I was thankful that the next day was a rest day. The night prior to walking on the glacier the porters all had a big party with singing, dancing and music, this was to celebrate the last day before heading onto the glacier and the real hardships for them. We left Paiyu for Urdukas and the mountains of the Karakoram started to appear up the glacier. This included unique, steep and famous peaks such as Trango Tower and Great Trango. A suggested 4-6 hour day turned out to be more like 8 hours over uneven ground which often involved scrambling on rocks. For the camp we hoped off the glacier for our last day off ice for the next few weeks.The next camp was Goro 2 and route finding was becoming more difficult, as piles of rocks were used to mark the way. The obvious problem being that the glacier was just large collections of piles of rocks. After getting lost many times we finally arrived at our first camp on the glacier, and our first night on rock and ice. The porters as usual slept huddled together surrounded by a small rock wall with a plastic sheet as a roof. Their heat was generated by a kerosene burner in the middle, it definitely was not the safest setup around. From Goro 2 we went to Concordia we were greeted with spectacular views of Gasherbrum IV, II, Masherbrum, Broad Peak and K2.
Concordia is the meeting place of some very large glaciers and gives a 360 degree view of some magnificent mountains. It was the highlight of the trip so far.
The nights were also getting colder as we ascended and the ground was colder and harder with more ice than rock. The next day we arrived at our home for the next few weeks, Broad Peak base camp. Half our team continued a further 2 hours up the glacier to K2 Base Camp. We spent the first hour or so digging out a nice level platform for our tent and then made sure we had a view of K2 to wake up to each morning. The biggest disappointment of the first few days was that our toilet or kitchen tent didn't arrived, it did eventually show up.
We settled into base camp life eating, sleeping, playing cards and resting. Plans were made to head up the Broad Peak and the task of fixing the line was started. One member of our group was evacuated due to a non responsive corneal ulcer and was flown out by helicopter.I was again stuck down by gastroenteritis, getting out of a tent when things are getting desperate wasn't the most fun thing in the world.
On Broad Peak the climb had fixed rope but wasn't particularly steep, and was very different I'm told to previous years due to large amount of snow. From base camp to the start of the route involved weaving your way through the glacier and most of the time getting lost. The route then climbed up a snow slope following a rocky ridge to half camp, it then went up a further snow slope to camp 1.Snow falls were a constant problem, with the day after a heavy snow fall could produce over 50 avalanches on the mountain, including a large avalanche that destroyed half the route from the bottom of the fixed line to Camp 1. I went up to half camp once and camp 1 twice, staying 2 nights at camp 1. Including one very cold night sleeping by myself at camp 1 in my down suit as my sleeping bag was wet.
Due to a medical illness I was unable to continue the climb and was evacuated by helicopter. The helicopter was an amazing experience and gave fantastic views of the mountains.
Pakistan was a very interesting experience and is a place that really is unique. One day I may return ... inshalla.
After 2 days of air travel we finally arrived in Islamabad. It was after midnight when we checked into our hotel and we had looked forward to sleeping in a bed. We were greeted by the Broad Peak leader to inform us that due to not being able to get a flight we would be leaving by bus early in the morning, or more accurately in just under 4 hours time.Most of the expedition packed on to 2 mini buses and we started the first of a two day trip on the Karakoram Highway or the KKH. The streets of Islamabad quickly changed to dusty roads and farm land. We were greeted by one lane bridges, army check points, tanks and many staring faces.
When the sun set a security escort was provided. That changed at each check point from a police officer sitting on our bus to a police car with flashing light driving in front of our vehicle. The escort was to provide safety from the Taliban. Our destination for the night was Chilas, we arrived at 1 am, dinner was offered but sleeping in a bed we decided was a better idea.
In the morning we woke to a beautiful view of the river and valley, but also realised that we were in a compound with armed guard and barbed wire fences.We also discovered that we had likely cracked the sump on our bus and we would be leaving once it was repaired... inshalla. Once again on our way we had spectacular views of Nanga Parbat and saw where the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindus Kush meet. The road soon changed to a small, dirt and one lane on the side of a cliff. Looking down at the river 300-400 metres below, we were all very nervous.
We arrived in Skardu after over 36 hours on the bus and were greeted with a magnificent BBQ, a soft bed and what we thought would be hot showers. These would have to wait til tomorrow after the plumber could be found to fix our shower.We spent the next few days in Skardu picking up last minute items and eating as much as we could.The expedition finally began to feel like it was starting, we all sorted gear in to barrels that were then packed onto jeeps for transport to Askole.
The road to Askole was another long jeep ride on very thin road on the side of a cliff. We thought we were lucky having the only jeep that was enclosed but soon discovered this only made the jeep a greenhouse. It was either dust or heat, we all voted for dust but our friendly Liaison Officer overruled us and we suffered in the heat.One mentionable place was a water fall that was running over the road, that turn out to be more of a mud slide. We drove through it and soon discover the mud blocking the view of our driver, who then had to drive with his head out the window. The following day a jeep (with no one in it) slipped in to the river in the exact same place. Arriving in Askole was a relief, it was the first night in a tent and finally we looked like we would be starting the trek.
The team was divided into those travelling to K2 base camp first and those going to Broad peak first. Sacha and I soon started to get to know our group of Broad Peak climbers. We went to bed early but were soon reminded of lunch the previous day, our first case of gastroenteritis on the trip. The trek to Jola we were accompanied by our 250 porters, goats and chickens. The track was along the side of cliff, river and on moraine. The wind blew fiercely all day and once again we were greeted with dust. There was more than one rickety bridge crossing but luckily a new bridge had been constructed to the camp so the crossing by a wire was not necessarily. At camp we were greeted by pit toilets and a fairly comfortable camp site.
The walk to Paiyu we had incredible views of the terminal end of the glacier and of many peaks. The long line of porters showed us the way to camp. That night we arrived in Paiyu after 8-9 hours, after waiting for our tents to arrive and setting them up it started to snow lightly, I was thankful that the next day was a rest day. The night prior to walking on the glacier the porters all had a big party with singing, dancing and music, this was to celebrate the last day before heading onto the glacier and the real hardships for them. We left Paiyu for Urdukas and the mountains of the Karakoram started to appear up the glacier. This included unique, steep and famous peaks such as Trango Tower and Great Trango. A suggested 4-6 hour day turned out to be more like 8 hours over uneven ground which often involved scrambling on rocks. For the camp we hoped off the glacier for our last day off ice for the next few weeks.The next camp was Goro 2 and route finding was becoming more difficult, as piles of rocks were used to mark the way. The obvious problem being that the glacier was just large collections of piles of rocks. After getting lost many times we finally arrived at our first camp on the glacier, and our first night on rock and ice. The porters as usual slept huddled together surrounded by a small rock wall with a plastic sheet as a roof. Their heat was generated by a kerosene burner in the middle, it definitely was not the safest setup around. From Goro 2 we went to Concordia we were greeted with spectacular views of Gasherbrum IV, II, Masherbrum, Broad Peak and K2.
Concordia is the meeting place of some very large glaciers and gives a 360 degree view of some magnificent mountains. It was the highlight of the trip so far.The nights were also getting colder as we ascended and the ground was colder and harder with more ice than rock. The next day we arrived at our home for the next few weeks, Broad Peak base camp. Half our team continued a further 2 hours up the glacier to K2 Base Camp. We spent the first hour or so digging out a nice level platform for our tent and then made sure we had a view of K2 to wake up to each morning. The biggest disappointment of the first few days was that our toilet or kitchen tent didn't arrived, it did eventually show up.We settled into base camp life eating, sleeping, playing cards and resting. Plans were made to head up the Broad Peak and the task of fixing the line was started. One member of our group was evacuated due to a non responsive corneal ulcer and was flown out by helicopter.I was again stuck down by gastroenteritis, getting out of a tent when things are getting desperate wasn't the most fun thing in the world.
On Broad Peak the climb had fixed rope but wasn't particularly steep, and was very different I'm told to previous years due to large amount of snow. From base camp to the start of the route involved weaving your way through the glacier and most of the time getting lost. The route then climbed up a snow slope following a rocky ridge to half camp, it then went up a further snow slope to camp 1.Snow falls were a constant problem, with the day after a heavy snow fall could produce over 50 avalanches on the mountain, including a large avalanche that destroyed half the route from the bottom of the fixed line to Camp 1. I went up to half camp once and camp 1 twice, staying 2 nights at camp 1. Including one very cold night sleeping by myself at camp 1 in my down suit as my sleeping bag was wet.
Due to a medical illness I was unable to continue the climb and was evacuated by helicopter. The helicopter was an amazing experience and gave fantastic views of the mountains.Pakistan was a very interesting experience and is a place that really is unique. One day I may return ... inshalla.
