International Peace & Friendship expedition to Broad Peak 2003

Dispatch No 4 from Paiju campsite, Baltoro Glacier: Well, we are finally and unmistakably on our way, camped tonight in a small wooded lot above the expanse of the Baltoro at Paiju.  The setting is surreal and the panorama expansive. It is just gone 6pm, and around 500 porters have lit fires on a still and balmy Karakorum evening, their smoky stoves lending an almost medieval feel to this amazing place. This afternoon we watched in a mixture of curiosity and disdain as our 5 goats were slain on a slab of rock above the river, their blood dyeing the water a vivid hue of red, while their human like screams echoed in our ears. This meat will nourish the stomachs of our men for the next week, but equally as important, fulfill a generations old tradition of having fresh or salted meat during a trip into the great mountains.

We have already laid our eyes on the Trango and Paiju peaks, in all their glory rearing above the ice highways we are plodding along. We have a scheduled rest day here, long enough only to allow our industrious load haulers to make and pack chapatti for the grueling hike ahead. We have all been carrying the lightest of day packs, while our fellow adventurers and employees have been burdened with extraordinary loads of up to 30ks.

Like untold hundreds who have come this way before us, we stand in mute awe and sheer amazement at their ability to negotiate the rocky trails and long distances between camps while shouldering such an onerous weight.

Everything is running like clockwork, and we are all settling in to the pleasant daily schedule of awakening to a feast of a breakfast, packing our gear, and hiking a trail characterized by constantly changing scenery. The team is a little taken aback by the quality of our ground services, for the 4^th night in a row we have sat down to a presidential sized evening meal, consisting of no less than 7 courses, washed down by cans of coke that have been carried this far for us. Each day, we are given a packed lunch to enjoy at a time of our pleasure. Not only does this avoid having to grind the expedition to a halt, and wait for everybody to reach the prescribed lunch spot, but it allows us to pick what each of us may think to be the most perfect place for us to enjoy our light snacks. Today I settled on a small bend in the river, spreading out to enjoy the warm sun and sounds of rushing waters, while nibbling on salmon, cheese, biscuits and nuts. There wasn’t another place in the world I would have preferred to have been.

To have watched the expedition this morning was an extraordinary sight that would have left none of our team unmoved. We have become a group of nearly 200 human beings, with our line of porters, camp staff, guides, and assistants stretching seemingly to the horizon as they weaved up and down the medial moraines of the gorge and glacier. It was an uplifting sensation, and one that led me to no other conclusion that I was involved in anything other than a major human undertaking.

Everybody is feeling great, and drinking 6-8 liters of water each day, also prepared and purified by our camp staff. Tomorrow we head into the very bowels of the Karakoram, a place that has enchanted and allured me for decades, through books, readings, films and first and third hand accounts. Tomorrow, it would appear, I get a chance to see what all the fuss is about. Our love and thoughts again to all our family, friends, and supporters

From Paiju camp-site

Stuart Remensyder

Deputy Expedition leader                 Dispatches

Photo copyright Dave Hancock

Broad Peak: Some background and History

 

Altitech2: Digital Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Thermometer. Time/Date/Alarms. Chronograph with 24 hour working range. Timer with stop, repeat and up function. Rotating Bezel. Leveling bubble. Carabiner latch. E.L. 3 second backlight. Water resistant. 4" x 2-1/4" x 3/4" 2 oz. Requires 1 CR2032 battery. See more here.

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here