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K2/Chogori
Winter 2003
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K2 Winter Expedition. Camp III is ready - the
sun is shining |
A childish question
Krzysztof Wielicki,
the head of the expedition, and Jacek Berbeka have
established camp III (7200 m) on the Northern
Pillar. Wielicki has to give up climbing for some
time due to his renewed leg injury.
On a sunny day -
the first after a long period of wind, frost and
clouds - we were observing the now perfectly visible
slope. There was some traffic on it. At first,
Krzysztof Wielicki climbed the rocky pillar from
camp II (6780 m) to the big, ice-snow gallery where
camp III is located, using old fixed ropes. His
partner Jacek Berbeka stayed in the tent at camp II
due to a shoe crampon that broke the day before. He
performed quite a feat, climbing from camp I on icy,
hard frozen fields practically on one leg.
Afterwards,
Wielicki and Berbeka carried the equipment necessary
for establishing the camp onto the snow platform at
7200 m and pitched a tent there. "It's a very windy
place - said the head of the expedition through the
radiotelephone - but we've dug the tent as deep as
we could and camp III looks solid. It can be reached
in three and a half hours from camp II.
Unfortunately, I have to return after the night due
to my renewed leg injury. Jacek can't do anything
here alone, so we are returning together".
Even the best team
of alpinists needs support on such a difficult
mountain in winter. 26-year-old Jacek Jawień and
25-year-old Bartek Duda, the two young mountaineers
from the so-called forwarding group, showed off a
daring feat on the slope. They have been waiting for
this moment a long time. Both of them proudly carry
around 16 crooked little crosses, as if they were
medals, marked with a felt-tip pen on their down
jackets. This is how they marked each of their
passings, which lasted many hours, with the
expedition's equipment on the K2 glacier from the
extended base, where they would stay, to the upper
base and back. They have been patiently covering
this very same route for a whole month. All in all,
each of them has marched 100 hours, carrying 350 kg
of equipment on his back. Only after fulfilling this
task, have they been dubbed as mature expedition
participants and have taken up residence in the main
base. Although they are members of alpine clubs, are
entitled to mountaineer and have already
participated in a number of expeditions, they have
never been to the highest mountains in winter.
When asked whether
he should take along young people as part of such a
difficult mountaineering expedition, Krzysztof
Wielicki keeps on reminding us that his first 8000er
he reached in winter was Mount Everest, and that he
was admitted to that historical expedition from a
reserve list.
On Monday, Jawień,
Duda and Jerzy Natkański set out to camp I before
dawn, packed with ropes and bivouac equipment needed
for establishing camp III. They were climbing the
icy fields with great dexterity, from time to time
asking those who were observing them through the
telescope questions through the radiotelephone that
are typical for children on an exhaustive trip: "How
far is it still?" They reached camp II, left the
equipment and returned to the base, where they
appeared around 8 pm, tired, but visibly pleased
with the task well accomplished. These young people
had to partly pay their expenses to be able to come
to this place. Jacek Jawień had sold his car to be
granted the honor of such hard work.
Today, Maciej
Pawlikowski, Dariusz Załuski and Jerzy Natkański are
staying for the night in camp II. The following day,
they are to bring ropes, sleeping bags and food to
camp III. Pawlikowski has not yet decided whether he
should join them, making his climbing dependent on
weather conditions such as temperature and wind; the
doctor thinks that his frostbite might get worse.
I went on a hike
with Piotr Morawski from the base to K2's northern
slope. Piotr insisted on searching for his sack with
personal belongings, which was swept away by a
strong gust of wind at camp II a few days ago.
Indeed, over two kilometers below, at the foot of a
gigantic precipice, he did find the sack. It was
empty. All the objects fell out when the sack was
falling down. Lying nearby was only an empty box of
chocolates, which they had eaten high above.
MONIKA ROGOZIŃSKA FROM THE BASE UNDER K2
Translations are
running a little behind again, as you can see Camp 3
is set up and being stocked. Next Camp 4, see the
route here. Note
camp 2 is lower than what they wanted. Camp 3 is
higher than expected at approx. 7100 meters. The
view down from Camp 3 is below.

Written by Monika
Rogozinska, "Rzeczpospolita";
translated by "Scrivanek".
Dispatches
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