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July 11-20th,1999 Daily Reports
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K2- Base of Gasherbrum - 5220 m/ Concσrdia 4.720m - 58th
day of the expedition
The porters surprised us yesterday, arriving a day before
combined at Gasherbrum's Base. So, today we started our camp-base moving We are going to
K2 at last. A short walk, only two days long, that will take us to our great challenge of
the Project K2.
Pepe Garces and Andrew Lock arrived yesterday very late and
tired. So, at the base, they preferred to rest one more day, before moving again. Andrew
goes back home, because he has already climbed K2 (the same thing Christian Kuntner did a
couple of days before). Then to K2 rest just Abele Blanc, Pepe and I.
Today we left the Gasherbrum's base and many friends
we met last month. It was extremely gratifying to leave together with Koreans, Spaniards,
Englishmen, Americans, Frenchmen, Austrians and Swiss. Fatally in K2 new friendships and
new emotions will wait for us. May God permit a happy end!
Hans Kammerlander Update: Hans' people (see below) confirm that Hans turned around and did not make the
summit of K2.
We have read your letter and what you heard about Hans and
Konrad is true. There is no chance to climb to the top of the K2.
The trade paperback has
three new chapters in addition to what appears in the
mass market paperback (the small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Hans Kammerlander best known in America for his speed ascent
of Everest (standard North Col, to the standard North Col Ridge Route: 5/24/96, 16 hours
45 minutes from base camp), has attempted the summit of K2. The unconfirmed reports
EverestNews.com has received, said that Hans and Konrad Auer attempted the summit of K2 as a
two man team. EverestNews.com has received UNCONFIRMED information that Hans and Konrad
turned around a few hundred meters from the summit due to bad weather
conditions and huge amount of snow. The fresh snow was shoulder height and
avalanches were occurring during their ascent. It is reported that Hans and Konrad are
disappointed and they will not make any further attempts to summit K2 this year. We would
hope they would stay and attempt with Waldemar, however, that seems unlikely as Hans
usually does things without much support, "the hard way".
Hans Kammerlander is a
"climber in another league". Clearly, one of the best H.A. climbers
climbing in the world today. Hans, never does it the easy way,
from his speed ascent of Everest, to the South West Wall of Cho Oyu (as his first 8000
meter peak), north west route on Makalu, to his many ski descents among his many difficult
climbs to date. Hans it is believed only has K2 and Manaslu left to finish to obtain his
goal of all 14 8000 Meter Peaks. Assuming he finishes the 8000 meter peaks, he will
place himself in the elite class of climbers, not only for the summits 14 summits,
but because of the way he did them. Hans has a chance to be compared to
Messner himself.
Last year, Hans plans were to attempted the
summits of Kanchenjunga, Manaslu and K2. He was going to try Kanchenjunga with camps, then
he was going to try to summit Manaslu without setting any camps -- no base camp or fixed
camps along the way. After that, an attempt at K2 alone. He made it to the summit of Kanchenjunga on the second
attempt. As reported on EverestNews.com, he then realized after getting back to base
camp that he had frostbite on his right foot. He went to the hospital in Kathmandu and
then was shipped directly back to Innsbruck, Austria. He then called off the rest of
expeditions for last year. This goes to show us all, that under the
right conditions, these 8000 meter peaks can humble even the greatest climbers in the
world.
There has been one death of a Romanian
climber so far on K2 this year. No summit, yet to our knowledge.
Update 7/17/99: WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Gasherbrum Base, 5,220m,
56th day of the expedition
We are anxious to get news from those who are
trying to get the summit of Gasherbrum and Hidden Peak . I hope to update the
news about it today here on K2 on-line.
I take advantage to leave another photo of
Gasherbrum. The photo shows the view that we have from the summit towards China.
Unfortunately, when we reached the peak it was winding a lot, we couldn't stand up, and
this wind started bringing a lot of clouds. So, the landscape was covered and
uncovered by clouds all the time. The mountain I wanted most to see was K2, but its
pyramid rarely appeared very far, amidst many clouds. Looking at the photo today, K2
should appear in the back, just a little right of the rock tower.
Latest News: Pepe Garces and Andrew
Lock reached the summit of 8,068m of Altitude at Hidden Peak, the 11th highest
mountain in the world, today at 3:45 pm. They left camp 3, at 7,100 m, at 2:00 am,
because before the wind was blowing too strongly, and they found a lot of snow on the
path. They are the second ones to reach the summit this year, Abele Blanc and Christian
Kuntner were the first ones (they got the summit on Jul. 3).
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/18/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum Base,
5,220m, 57th day of the expedition
Unfortunately few people have succeeded to reach
the summits of Gasherbrums this weekend. The expectancy was great, because the weather was
good in fact, but there was a lot of snow on the path and the wind blew strongly,
principally this Sunday. So, the Spaniard Pepe Garces and the Australian Andrew Lock have
succeeded yesterday at Hidden Peak. And also, three Koreans led by Jong Seung Lee,
reached the summit of Gasherbrum yesterday.
The Jacek Maselko Q&A Part Two:
(Part One is the 7/16/98 News)
Q.) What time did you arrive and depart ? You know there has been some
critical remarks that your group should not have stayed there that long ? What do you say
to the hindsight ?
A.) Tadek arrived at 13:30, I arrived at 13:35, Ryszard
around 14:10. As far as the criticism, well hindsight is always 20/20.
However, the summit was very warm, and there was no wind! It might have made us feel
a bit too complacent, but it really was a very nice day, except the view was obscured by
the clouds. Ryszard was also making a radio patch call to his sponsors in Poland, and
wanted to rest a little as well since he was out of oxygen at this point - he had a
malfunctioning regulator. Additionally everyone was feeling pretty strong, so that
added to our maybe overconfidence.
Q.) On the way down, when did the problems being ?
A.) Tadek left the summit first, then Ryszard and I followed
last after I picked up a rock from the outcropping near the summit. I didn't catch
up to Tadek until I was on top of the 2nd step. There is a small snowfield with a
number of oxygen bottles lying there. Tadek told me that he found a bottle that was
almost full and his only had about an hour left of oxygen. He asked me if I wanted
to search through them to find a fuller bottle of Os for myself, but I said that I will
just rather go down. As I started down the fixed line, Tadek was putting the new
oxygen bottle on.
Q.) Tadek was last seen coming down the second step by you
or Ryszard? What do you think happened to him?
A.) I was the last one to see him. I was traversing
below the 2nd step and saw Tadek rappelling the 2nd step. Most likely what
happened to him is that he tripped or slipped during the traverse between the 2nd and 1st
step.
Q.) Tell us what you know about Joao Garcia going up ? and
at what point did you pass him?
A.) We caught up to Joao and Pascal above the 3rd step -
they were resting and the route ahead went up the upper snow triangle on the NE
ridge. I passed them and lead through the deep snow (knee to thigh deep on
45-60 degree slope). My oxygen ran out half way through the snow field, and
Tadek caught up to me and passed me. I went up to a small ledge where I
changed the oxygen bottles. Here Joao also caught up to me and we talked for a few minutes
while resting there. On the way down, we passed Joao on the summit ridge. We
saw Pascal sitting on oxygen (they carried oxygen for emergencies with them) at the start
of the fixed lines from the summit ridge - about 200 meters horizontal below the summit.
Pascal looked very tired so I thought he was just waiting for Joao to come down.
However, I later learned from Joao that after he summited alone at
4:30pm, he came down to Pascal, and then they both went to
the top, summiting at 6:30pm.
Q.) Tell us about Ryszard and Pascal spending the night on
Everest ? And why Ryszard stopped coming down.
A.) All three of them (Ryszard, Pascal, and Joao) spent the
night below the 1st step, but were unaware of each others presence. Ryszard
put his headlamp on when it got dark, but it wouldn't work. It was pitch black by
the time he figured out what the problem was - one of the battery leads disconnected on
his Petzl Arctic headlamp. He had to work by touch and feel, which meant that he
took off his gloves to try to connect the terminal again. However, before
he could get it done, his hands and fingers would go numb and he had to put on the
mittens again and spend a while shaking and moving them to warm them up. Ryszard said that
he repeated this procedure over 10 times throughout the night. The problem is that
below the 1st step, the fixed lines end, and although the terrain is very easy to the
start of the fixed line through the yellow band, in the dark, it would be very hard to
find, and one could possibly walk off the Kangshung face, or the North face, or even go
too far passed the fixed line. So Ryszard decided to stay put and wait until light.
The whole night he was sitting on the backpack, stomping his feet, and moving his
toes and fingers.
Q.) At camp 6 you and the sherpas head out at what time and
why ?? Tell us about Joao coming in... to camp.
A.) We heard Ryszard's call on the radio around 7pm. At
which point we asked our Sherpas, Pasang and Pema, to grab oxygen and come up from
camp 5 (7,650m). They left camp 5 by 8pm and on 5 liters per minute headed to camp
6. They arrived at camp 6 around midnight. They tried to find the start of the
fixed line, but the very strong wind and blowing snow made it impossible. They
asked me if I would point them to the ropes, but I told them that I had a hard time
finding camp 6 after leaving the rope from the yellow band. Appa Sherpa was in a
tent on the other side of camp 6, and our Sherpas went to him. I told him that we
would give him any money he wanted to go up to try to get Ryszard (at this point we didn't
know anything about Joao and Pascal). However, Appa Sherpa said that it was too
dangerous to go out in the storm, no matter how much he got paid. We then waited
until morning in the tent at camp 6. At 4:30 am we were melting snow again for tea.
By 5am, the Sherpas left, and I followed them about half an hour later. When
I got to the start of the fixed line up the yellow band, I couldn't warm up my toes or
fingers, and struggled with the decision to stay and wait. The Sherpas, however,
were already near the top of the yellow band. After the Sherpas disappeared
above the yellow band, I saw a person start coming down. It was Joao. He
looked fairly tired, but the worst was his nose, which was frozen solid with icicles
hanging from it. When he arrived at the bottom of the fixed line, I gave him
tea, but he refused, saying he has some in the tent. I then asked him where is
Pascal, and he said in the tent. I asked whether he was sure? But he was very
insistent on that. He then left for camp 6.
Q.) Tell us about the Sherpas who we know you are so proud
of and their efforts?
A.) They were really great guys. We already formed a
strong rapport with them before this day. You know how it is when you meet
people that you hit it off with right away, and this was very much like that. I was
also very impressed that when other Sherpas didn't want to go, they risked their lives to
save Ryszard. I thought it was above and beyond the usual call of duty of a high
altitude Sherpa to go out in the middle of the night in a storm from 7,650 meters to 8,300
and then the following morning up to 8,500 meters in nonabating winds.
Regards, Jacek
Next EverestNews.com will cover with Jacek what assistance the
Sherpa climbers gave Pascal and what happened, and their feelings (the Sherpa climbers) as
described by Jacek. Then what Jacek heard happened on the attempt to save Pascal. His
theory on Pascal "awaking ". His opinion on how
easy it is to fall going down with the ropes that were there
this year from the Summit to Camp 6. And the toughest for last...Going
down how it is descending with one less climber?
His slideshow is below, this
will take you awhile in that there are 33 pictures. We found the pictures some of the best
photos we have seen "together". It is a must see. Also You
will want to see picture number 33. It touched us. Jacek set this slideshow up to go with his Q&A... on
EverestNews.com.
Again, unless you have been there, you must
take the time to see these pictures.
EverestNews.com
plans to giving Jacek's Q&A
much attention, as there is much information here. We encourage those very interested in
Everest 99 to study his Q&A and pictures.
To Our readers from around the world, there is very sad news
in American. John F. Kennedy Jr., the only son of the
assassinated U.S. president, is missing after it is believed he took off in a
single-engine plane last night. Things are very unclear, and the American media is full of
speculation with the worst being feared. John F. Kennedy Jr., is a
climber and the Kennedy family has been a climbing group, with a significant peak in
Canada, named after them. Let's keep our hopes up, for this family.....
Gasherbrum Base, 5,220m , 54th day of the
expedition
A very hectic day here at base, due to a nice
forecast, that says that there will be good weather until Sunday. Therefore, many people
went up to superior camps to do the final attack to the summit in the next days. In our
expedition, Pepe Garces and Andrew Lock went as far as camp 2 ( Hidden Peak), in order to
try again.
I am , as you know, very calm, having some rest for
K2. I had a consult with the Spaniard Xavier Botella, one of the greatest specialists in
Medicine of altitudes in the world. I had the great pleasure to meet him in 1991 on
Everest, and he has told me that I have a "sub clinic pulmonary oedema". What
disturbs me a lot is coughing, probably due to a little liquid accumulation in one of the
alveolus in one of my lungs, such coughing is called the " Everest coughing" or
"mountain coughing " by Dr. Xavier. But it's not necessary to worry, because
it's a sub clinic case and Dr. Xavier has guaranteed it's not very dangerous, it's just
need some care and don't let it develop. So, take it easy, no hurry or panic, because each
day resting I feel better.
The lively Spaniards led by Oscar Cadiach went away
yesterday and also the Englishmen led by David Hamilton. Both of them very glad, because
the success rate was high on Gasherbrum. Those, who stayed here, have been frightened by
two avalanches, one yesterday and other today, that came down from Golden Throne (a
mountain located on the other side of the glacier, where is the base-camp, the Abruzzi).
An enormous ice mass has loosened and came down destroying everything ahead, forming an
enormous smoke cloud that involved all base-camp. Everybody ran into their tents, holding
its as firmly as possible the frame, while it was possible to feel the air moving outside
and the noise of the ice crystal on the nylon. The heart, of course beating a lot, but not
so serious, just some empty tents were taken by the air movement.
And the photo today is our camp 3 of Gasherbrum, at
7,000 m, from where we did our last attack to the summit. A nice landscape for one of the
principal mountains in Karakorum, as Trango Towers, Masherbrum, and Chogolisa. On the
photo Golden Throne appears on the left and Chogolisa on the right. On the photo appears
Golden Throne on the left and Chogolisa (geometric) on the right.
Gasherbrum Base, 5,220m,55th day of the expedition
Fortunately, it's a very nice weather today, many
people went up and must try to attack the summit this evening. Pepe Garces and Andrew Lock
are at 7,100m, in our camp 3 at Hidden Peak, and must leave today at 10:00 pm trying to
get the summit. I'm going to be here at base, following them in each step by radio,
cheering for them to succeed. There are many alpinists in Gasherbrum, from several
expeditions, that must take advantage of the good weather to get the summit of this great
mountain.
I expect anxiously the porters' arrival, foreseen
to next 19th, to go to K2 definitely. I wish to face the "mountains of the
mountains" again. For a while, we don't have news from K2, the Koreans and Japanese
have barely got camp 3, around 7,400m and the Italians have just started helping them,
because they arrived later. It means that the situation is not easy there.
A great quantity of snow is disturbing the works.
K2 is really a mountain with no comparison, and although it is around 15 km from
Gasherbrum in direct line, the climbing conditions can be completely different.
I leave you a photo of our last 300 m on
Gasherbrum, that has taken more than 3 hours to overcome. Let's take as a reference the
big rock tower on the superior part, almost in the centre of the photo. Over this rock
tower, there is a small ice that raises towards the sky , the summit is just on the left
side of this ice point. In fact it's a big "cornisa"). And just on the right
side of that tower, it's possible to see two black spots, they are the two Koreans who
spent the night at camp 4 and arrived at the summit ahead of us, one of them calls Sang
Bae Lee stayed more than two hours at the summit, waiting for good weather conditions to
fly on paraglider, but the wind didn't permit.
Q.) When did you leave Camp 6 and who all else attempted the
Summit that day from the North ?
A.) We woke up around midnight with Tadek and myself leaving
at 3am. Ryszard left shortly after that. At the time we were not aware of
anyone else attempting the summit from the north side. However, when we caught up to
Joao and Pascal above the 3rd step, they told us that they left camp 6 at 10pm the
previous night (May 17), as they had a hard time sleeping there.
Q.) Describe the amount of "new" (1999) fixed rope
on the way up to the Summit...if any ..
A.) There was not very much "new" fixed line above
camp 6. However, we did recognized our 8mm dynamic line on the 2nd step that
Conrad fixed during his attempt at free climbing the second step. Most other
ropes we did not trust, especially on the traverses, so it was good to be able to
hang on that rope without the added fear of the integrity of the line. The politics
of fixed lines are very interesting. When we arrived in base camp, the
Ukrainians and the Americans (Mallory expedition) fixed most of the lower mountain to camp
2. Then the courting began, where the big, commercial expedition try to court all
the other ones to pay them for fixing the route. They had the Sherpa power and the rope to
do it, so we should just pay them to do it. We talked to the Ukrainian leader about
how much we should compensate them as they did the bulk of the work, but they said that
they climb for sport and do not want money. However, we did give $800 to one of the
big commercial outfits. Actually we postponed the summit bid at one point because
they haven't fixed the route, and decided to go after them ....
Q.) Describe the second step "climb" (ladder) for
our readers and this new rope put in place by the Americans.
A.) The 2nd step is at the end of a tedious traverse and
there are numerous fixed lines hanging down, so it was good to find our rope.
Most of the ropes look fairly decent at the lower anchor, but then you look
up where they cross over an edge and most of them are frayed there. At the beginning
of the step there is a fairly large off-width crack in the middle of it with an easy ramp
to the right (where the route goes), as you make your way up the bouldery section of about
4 meters, you come around a corner and then easy snow climb of maybe 15 meters takes you
to the base of the ladder (3-4 meters high) on the headwall. There is another off-width
crack to the left of the ladder (a continuation of the lower crack, but it's filled in
with snow on the lower angled mid section). To the right of the ladder the wall is steep,
but there are lots of holds. However, the rock there is extremely rotten and I wouldn't
even consider climbing it at sea level, as those holds would come right off. The
off-width crack, however, looks fairly easy if one was to climb it at sea level. It
continues for maybe 5 meters with a large chockstone blocking the exit to the
top - definitely looks like the crux of that climb. However, climbing the
ladder is very easy, with crampons neatly catching on the rungs of the ladder. The exit to
the top is probably the only awkward move there. As I mentioned earlier, the new
rope put there by Conrad definitely eases the mind while climbing this section, especially
during the rappel.
Q.) Did you see any signs of the lost Ukranian climber on
the way top the summit?
A.) No, there were some bodies laying off of the route, but
were fairly covered up by snow, and I didn't venture to investigate.
Q.) Once you reached the Summit, were there signs anyone
else was there that day ? From the South ? Did you hear radio reports of others
reaching the Summit that day ?
A.) There were no signs of anyone there before us. People in
ABC (from the north side) were asking me whether I see anyone on the SE ridge, or
whether there is any sign of anyone having been there. So I looked pretty closely to
answer them, and the summit looked fairly undisturbed with all the "trash" being
fairly well covered by the snow.
Jacek
His slideshow is below, this
will take you awhile in that there are 33 pictures. We found the pictures some of the best
photos we have seen "together". It is a must see. Also You
will want to see picture number 33. It touched us.
The trade paperback has
three new chapters in addition to what appears in the
mass market paperback (the small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Gasherbrum Base, 5,220m, 53rd day of the expedition
If you have been following K2 on-line since the beginning, I
remind you that we were the first expedition that arrived in base-camp. So, we prefer to
put our tents as high as possible, avoiding being located in the midway of other
expeditions. And if you think that all this concern is too much you are wrong, because
there are 11 expeditions around here, an average of 120 alpinists
and almost 200 people, counting the cooks and porters, that almost all expeditions
take. That's why, we are at 5,200m and below there are other tents located around:
Spaniards from Catalonia, Frenchmen, Englishman, Koreans, Spaniards from
Valencia, Americans, more Koreans, etc. on a narrow moraine that is squeezed
between the Glacier Gasherbrum and goes down by the Glacier Duca de Abruzzi.
For our surprise, there are a great number of military
Pakistanis troops all around Karakorum, and the brave Pakistanis soldiers have their camps
on the Glacier during all year long. About 500 meters from our tents there are an army
base, where it's forbidden to get close or take pictures, and take a look, we are
talking about something around 5,350 m of altitude. But, it's not all, going the glacier
Duca de Abruzzi up, you get the "control line", the called undefined frontier
between Pakistan and India. It's up there at 6 thousand
meters of altitude that's placed the last military base of Pakistan. Here from the base we can
see some organized tents on the snow. When the weather is good, as it was today,
heavy helicopters bring groceries for the soldiers, in big hanging nets. As
the air is rarefied, it can't land, so it releases the groceries at a minimum altitude
that it can get. Today I counted seven of them flying over our camping. But the worst of
all, is to hear shootings at night, that go and come I don't know where they are from, but
they make a big noise.
Well, let's return to our climbing to Gasherbrum, analyzing
other photo. Don't forget to see yesterday's photo, to understand it better. Today's
photo was taken from a place around 7,600 m of altitude, so you can see the
"banana" from the height (the tower over below ), where there
are some tents, is camp 2 at 6,500m, where we didn't stay at. Further there is a big
snow ramp that is interrupted by a 80 m serac (cracks and ice blocks).
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Coming on Thursday the Jacek Maselko
Q&A: This Q&A is very powerful as Jacek discusses the climb, the rescue of
his friend, and the lost of a friend. Also additional details on Joao, Pascal, and what
Jacek "was asked that day", which you will find interesting. His slideshow is below, this will take you awhile in that there are
33 pictures. We found the pictures some of the best photos we have seen
"together". It is a must see. Also You will want to see
picture number 33. It touched us.
The trade paperback has
three new chapters in addition to what appears in the
mass market paperback (the small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
1999 K2:
Heading to K2 Soon, but more climbing first.
Update
7/13/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum, Base, 5,220m,52nd day of the expedition
It's incredible, but just a day resting here at base- camp
makes the difference. I feel much better, but even thought very sure to go to K2, leaving
Hidden Peak for another opportunity.
Unfortunately the days have gone by so quickly and the
weather hasn't helped much. I'd like to have already climbed those two mountains .
Yesterday was the foreseen day that the porters would come to move to the base of K2. I
have a good feeling, that we will have good weather in the next full moon, on the 28th,
when I intend to do the final attack to K2.
A little good sense can solve everything. I'm very glad by
my ascending to Gasherbrum, although I'd like to try Hidden Peak again. Nothing is more
important in this expedition than K2. I feel perfectly acclimatized for this comfort, and
a new attempt to Hidden Peak would bring us an useless and unnecessary waste. It's
my point of view. Unfortunately I couldn't convince my friend Pepe
Garces to give up of Hidden Peak. So, he waits the weather gets better in the next days to
go on to superior camps with the Australian Andrew Lock.
While I recover my energy, I look after my throat that
is getting better step by step. On the other hand, I take the necessary arrangements to
climb K2. I've already got in touch with the agency in Islamabad, that will send 36
porters on Jul. 20th, when we intend to leave to K2, base-camp, just a two-day walk from
here.
(legenda da foto) As I have promised, I'll send
a new photo of our climbing to Gasherbrum each day. Today's photo I took when I was
at 6,500m, where camp 2 is placed. On the photo appears Abele and Christian on the top of
the called "banana", the first obstacle on our climb route, a 300-metre
ram . In the centre, in the back and below, the Glacier Gasherbrum joins the Glacier
Duca de Abruzzi, where appears a narrow black spot, it's where our base-camp is
placed. The other big round mountain in the centre is "Golden Throne".
The trade paperback has
three new chapters in addition to what appears in the
mass market paperback (the small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Gasherbrum Base-camp, 5,220m, 51st day of the expedition
Dear friends
With great pleasure I send this message direct from
base-camp, after climbing Gasherbrum II successfully, with 8,035 of altitude, the
14th highest mountain in the world.
Abele and I had a nervous descending yesterday from
7,000 meters, camp 3, as far as base-camp. The final attack, from 7,000
meters to
the summit was long and tough, it seemed endless. And when we got the summit, what
we were expecting, happened. The weather changed suddenly, a strong
wind blew at 8,035m and the clouds started to fulfil all horizon.
During our descending it started to snow very strongly and
it got colder as we went down. We arrived at camp 3 very tired and the blizzard went on
all night long. We almost couldn't sleep, worried about going down to camp 1 and having
the possibility of an avalanche on our tent. Around 4:00 am, when the sun was
rising we tried to go out of the tent for the first time but it was impossible. All
camping was about 30 cm under the snow, from 50 to 60 km/hour wind. The worst
was the lack of visibility, we couldn't see further than 10 meters. So, we waited
the wind calm down. By 6:00 am Abele and I could go out of the tent and started to look
for the rope end which would take us safe down. I found the end of the fixed rope 40
cm under the snow, far about 20 cm from Abele I insisted on saying " I'm sure
it's here".
It was craziness to go down in that weather, but the storm
was similar to days before (it's snowing till now), and being hung in that tent at
7,000 meters of altitude could be fatal. Therefore we needed to do something
quickly. So, we started doing a series of descents by fixed ropes, on a wall between
30 and 60 degrees inclination. The wind, furious, almost blinded us. The snow that
had just fallen, fell in great avalanches on our feet. We started digging each meter
of rope with difficulty and the most incredible, although we were in front of each other
just some meters ahead, the one who came behind couldn't find any
other's footsteps. The wind and the snow erased everything very quickly hiding the
ropes again. As far as camp 2, at 6,500 m (place where we didn't use for camping, so we
hadn't any tent there) it was one of the greatest adventure I've ever
had. After being sheltered by the wind, thanks to the mountain geography, the
descending was calmer to 6,000 meters, where the fixed ropes finished, because the
inclination diminished and there was just 30 minutes walk to camp 1. We arrived
there at 11:00 am, when it stopped snowing. We ate and drank much, so we went on
descending to base. At 1:00 pm it started snowing hardly again. The descending to base was
nervous again, due to a great quantity of snow that was falling. It hid
innumerable glacier cracks.
But, my friends, we arrived in our base-camp, where the
first thing that called my attention was the Brazilian flag, trembling on a bamboo amidst
a strong blizzard. Our green and yellow flag, trembling for the
first time in the history at the heights of 8,035 meters of Gasherbrum, 'the light
mountain" the 14th highest in the world.
(legenda da foto) The accomplishment of a great dream,
Waldemar Niclevicz with the Brazilian flag, that was received by the Minister of
Sports and Tourism of Brazil, Mr. Rafael Greca, on the heights of Gasherbrum, with 8,035m
of altitude, the 14th highest mountain in the world.
PS.: During this week, each day a photo of a new climb.
Don't miss!
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
We must say Waldemar's reports "are
real life". We hope you are enjoying this insight into H.A. climbing rather than some
reports written by a BC reporter. Not that reports written by a BC reporter are bad...
Nepal Relaxes Trekking Permit Rules and simplifies Visa
Procedures
In its well publicized commitment to liberalize Tourism Policy, His Majesty' s Government
of Nepal has announced that Trekking Permit fees for the following areas have been waived
with effect from this autumn season:
01. Everest Region
02. Annapurna Region
03. Langtang Region
By this new announcement, Trekkers visiting above areas don't need any Trekking Permit and
don't need to queue up at long lines at the police check posts at different Trekking
Destinations.
However, other Areas like Dolpo, Humla, Manaslu, Makalu, Kanchenjunga plus all other
destinations of Nepal will remain the same, no change.
Nepal Entry Visa:
Similarly Tourist visiting Nepal will get from now onwards 2 months Visa from anywhere in
the world, consul or embassies of Nepal paying just US$ 30. This has also simplified
duplicate procedures of Entry Visa as well as Entry Trekking Permit within the country.
While committed Nepal Travelers can feel a great relief of such Himalayan Bureaucratic
Hassles, Trekking Operators in Nepal however are not happy about it. Emergency meetings
one after another are going on in different Trekking & Travel Associations in
Kathmandu to find a counter measures. However, the Government seems pretty firm and
confident in their stand as they have absolute majority in the House.
Reported by bikrum pandey at Himalaya Center Kathmandu Nepal - 12 July
1999
Note: This appears to be a change in Trekking Permit Rules
not climbing permits on the Mountains governed by the Ministry of Tourism. As always, ask
all the questions (three times or more), be careful, and be safe.
The readers of EverestNews.com continue to post interesting
Lectures and the other news on the Lectures page of the forum. Check them out.
The trade paperback has
three new chapters in addition to what appears in the
mass market paperback (the small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Ghosts on Everest: In 1998 EverestNews.com meet a young man by the name of Jochen Hemmleb. After we have gotten to know Jochen,
he asked us to publish his papers on EverestNews.com (Jochen Hemmleb's
Papers). This Spring as part of Eric Simonson's commercial
expedition to Everest. Jochen, had a chance to live his dream of finding out what happened
to Mallory & Irvine. Clearly a search for Ghosts on Everest. If you are new to
EverestNews.com we encourage you to read Jochen's Papers.
EverestNews.com looks forward to more Q&As with Jochen, Eric and Larry in the future as
this their new
book is finished and time becomes available for them.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
1999 K2:
Summits on Gasherbrum and a Marriage Proposal
Update 7/10/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum, Attempt to Attack the Summit of
Gasherbrum 8,035m 49th day of the expedition
It was a long and extremely tough day, but worthy.
We have succeeded to climb the 8,035m of the 14th highest mountain in the
world. Abele Blanc, Christian Kuntner and I arrived today at 1:20 pm
(Pakistan hour - 8 hours earlier than the Brazilian hour) at the summit of
Gasherbrum after an icy night ( -21 degrees C). We're exhausted, but happy!
The day was wonderful, but when we got
the summit, the weather changed suddenly, strong winds and threatening storm clouds
took place. The great difficulty was the soft snow found on the way, mainly at the
last 200m before getting the summit, where we sank up to the knees. So, unfortunately, it
wasn't possible to be there for a long time, mainly due to strong winds. We are at Camp 3,
7,000m, where we have hydrated, melting snow. But, we've got it, that's the
important!
Gasherbrum in Urdu means "light mountain".
This success, the conquest of the light mountain, I offer to Adriana
Carioba, the woman of my life, with whom I expect to get married as soon as I arrive in
Brazil.
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/11/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum Camp 3, 7,000m /
Base-camp 5,200m, 50th day of the expedition
We are leaving Camp 3 today towards base-camp for resting.
We are happy by the team's conquest, and by the fact that I have been the
first Brazilian to climb Gasherbrum with its 8,035m of altitude, the 14th highest mountain
in the world. This is a unique victory to Brazilian Alpinism, and for me a good motivation
to go on the Project K2.
As soon as I get the base I'll send you the photos. Once
more thank you for cheering!
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Autumn Everest 99: Begins next
week, as EverestNews.com starts to discuss who is going. Please let us know if You or your
friends are going, submit to everestnews2004@adelphia.net
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
