July 22: We continue to sit at BC due to weather. The weather at BC isn’t particularly bad, but it is clear to even the most optimistic person that there is too much wind to allow climbing right now. So everyone is trying to figure out how to fill up the 24 hours in each day. You can only eat/drink/pee/poop/sleep for a few hours each day! From my experience, your ability to cope with this situation is the best indicator of how likely you are to climb the peak.
Getting exercise is important, so yesterday Deedar (our cook), Chris W., Eric and I headed down to Broad Peak Base camp for a visit. This is a nice walk, about an hour each way. For me, the day ended up being quite full of social engagements (some expected, some not).
The first surprise came about 30 minutes out of our camp. My liaison officer from our 2005 Broad Peak expedition, Major Anwar, came walking up the glacier. He was serving as an LO at Gasherbrum BC, and he found out I was at K2 BC. So he and some fellow LOs embarked on a 3 day round trip to visit me and the other LOs in the area. He is a great guy and we caught up on old times. It turns out he spent two years on the Afghan border after our expedition–not a safe assignment! I was relieved to hear that he is now in Lahore. His wife and two sons are doing fine, and he will likely retire in the next couple of years. As a present, he brought me a large bottle of Coke (worth at least $10 up here). Thanks!
We then went down to Broad Peak Base Camp, where Deedar and I caught up with Mario Panzeri, who was with us on our 2006 Gasherbrum II expedition. Mario is an Italian, a very strong climber, and a delight to be with. He loves his cigarettes, Pepsi, and coffee. He always has a smile waiting just around the corner. He just came from Nanga Parbat, where they had 3 weeks of great weather, allowing him to summit without much trouble. He’s now going to wait for good weather at Broad Peak, where 2-3 days will see him to the top.
We then went down to the American camp, but found out they went to K2 Base (they passed us while we were in Mario’s tent). So we hiked back to K2 Base and eventually caught up to them in our own mess tent. They plan on summiting Broad Peak, then moving up to K2 for an attempt. While we talked, Singapore climber Robert joined us. I’d corresponded with Robert prior to our expedition, so it was a pleasure to meet him. They all left about 6:30, when we ate dinner.
There had been a party a few days before (with beer!) that we hadn’t heard about. I made it clear to Deedar that we were to be informed about any further parties. Well, there was one last night so Deedar made certain that I was there. About 9pm I got out of my tent and walked down to the party. These parties consist of the Pakistani staff and team members (all male). There is much singing and drumming, and then dancing. I’ve been to these things before and knew as a team leader that I’d have to dance. You can imagine me doing a solo dance in front of about 40 (mostly sober) guys. No beer last night!
So after 11pm I went back to my tent, as tired as I’ve been in a number of days. Today is certainly less exciting (though I’ve spent 30 minutes typing this). It’s partly sunny, slightly windy, and we had a bit of snow earlier this morning. Lunch will be ready in about 30 minutes and will take 15 minutes to eat. After that, the afternoon will stretch ahead. I’ll look for more reasonable photos/video, read a bit, talk some, and try to avoid looking at my watch.
We likely have another 5-6 days before we can go up. The higher we get, the fewer weather openings there are.
Mike