K2 60th Anniversary 2014

K2 60th Anniversary 2014 In 1954 an Italian expdittion came to Pakistan to try its luck on K2. It consisted of twelve climber and four scientists and was led by veteran mountaineer

In 1909 a big Italian expedition under the leadership of resolute Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe (Duke of Abruzzi) the grandson o...
15/11/2013

In 1909 a big Italian expedition under the leadership of resolute Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe (Duke of Abruzzi) the grandson of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, reconnoitred K2 peak. Its members produced a very good account of the expedition with photographs and accurate maps of Baltoro area.

K2 1892 and 1902Excerpt from Climbing The World's 14 Highest Mountains by Richard Sale and John Cleare: In 1892 the base...
14/11/2013

K2 1892 and 1902

Excerpt from Climbing The World's 14 Highest Mountains by Richard Sale and John Cleare: In 1892 the base of the peak was reached for the first time by the British mountaineer Martin Conway. Conway explored the Baltoro, naming Concordia ... and discovering the Godwin-Austen and Vigne Glaciers. Conway also named Broad Peak and Hidden Peak (Gasherbrum I). Conway's team made an attempt on a peak he called Golden Throne (Baltoro Kangri) reaching a subsidiary summit. Although Conway's expedition did little actual climbing, in terms of exploration it was a major success.

Ten years after Conway's trip [in 1902] a small team of British and Austrian climbers and a Swiss doctor under Oscar Eckenstein arrived to climb K2. ... Eckenstein doggedly refused to deflect from his objective, with the result that the team did not get higher than 6,600m and then had to retreat hastily when [Heinrich] Plannl contracted pulmonary oedema. ... The expedition was also notable for including Edward Alexander (Aleister) Crowley, the self-proclaimed Great Beast 666 etc. whose abilities as a climber have been completely overshadowed by those as a self-publicist, though they actually seem to have been far greater than his abilities to conjure up the Devil.

Baltoro Glacier Trekking Route To Concordia And Gasherbrum Base CampAfter flying from Islamabad to Skardu with an amazin...
14/11/2013

Baltoro Glacier Trekking Route To Concordia And Gasherbrum Base Camp
After flying from Islamabad to Skardu with an amazing view of Nanga Parbat, driving from Skardu to Thongol, and trekking from Thongol to Paiju, I set foot on the Baltoro Glacier. I trekked to Khoburtse that first day with a stunning view of Trango Nameless Tower and the Great Trango Tower. I had a dazzling sunrise from Khoburtse with views of Paiju Peak, Uli Biaho Tower, Trango Towers, Cathedral, and Lobsang Spire. The next trekking day we went from Khoburtse to Goro II where Masherbrum was striking both at sunset and sunrise while Gasherbrum IV loomed ahead with Gasherbrum II poking out to its right.

The next day was a fairly short trekking day passing Muztagh Tower before arriving at Concordia, the highlight of the whole trek with K2 dominating the view at the head of the Godwin-Austen Glacier. Rotating in a circle at Concordia, the view has K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum IV, Baltoro Kangri, Vigne Peak, Mitre Peak, Paiju Peak, the spires of the Baltoro Glacier, Crystal Peak and Marble Peak. WOW! Spectacular! Breathtaking!

The next day we trekked on the Upper Baltoro Glacier to Shaqring Camp with views of Chogolisa and Baltoro Kangri. Cloudy weather rolled in as we trekked on the Abruzzi Glacier to Gasherbrum Base Camp with a brief view of Gasherbrum I. After back-tracking to Concordia it snowed, so we decided to return back down the Baltoro Glacier instead of waiting for the weather to clear and the snow to melt.

14/11/2013

Ascent Of K2 - Ardito Desio, Walter Bonatti, Achille Compagnoni, Lino Lacedelli, Mahdi, Mario Puchoz

K2 (8611m) is the second highest mountain in the world, and is thought by many climbers to be the ultimate climb. It is ...
14/11/2013

K2 (8611m) is the second highest mountain in the world, and is thought by many climbers to be the ultimate climb. It is much more difficult and dangerous than Mount Everest. Its giant pyramid peak towers in isolation, 3900m above the wide Concordia glacial field at the head of the Baltoro Glacier. In 1856 Capt. T.G. Montgomerie of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India saw a cluster of high peaks from a point 137 miles away in Kashmir, and entered them as K1, K2, K3 and so on, with K standing for Karakoram. K1, K3, K4 and K5 were eventually renamed Masherbrum, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I respectively. But, K2 kept the surveyor's notation as its common name.

The mountain's remoteness had rendered it invisible from any inhabited place, so apart from an occasional local reference as Chogori (meaning Great Mountain or Big Snow Mountain), it had no other name prior to Montgomerie's survey. Since that time, the name Mount Godwin-Austen has occasionally been used, in honour of the man who directed the survey. For the most part, however, K2 has been the name of choice, and has even evolved into Ketu, the name used by the Balti people who act as porters in the region. The sheer icy summit is flanked by six equally steep ridges. Each of its faces presents a maze of precipices and overhangs.

The Karakoram (“Black Mountains”) and Himalaya are the newest mountains in the World. Pakistan has the largest concentration of high mountains in the World. There are more than 100 peaks over 7,000 meters within a radius of 180 kilometers. Five of the 14 8000-metre peaks in the world are in Pakistan. Peaks above 3,000 to 6,000 meters are countless and remain unclimbed and unnamed. Out of 100 highest peaks in the world, more than 50 are in Pakistan.

Jim Wickwire from the Foreword for the book Five Miles High:

"For many climbers K2 – even more than Everest – is the ultimate mountain. At 28,250 feet, it is second only to Everest, a scant 800 feet higher. With its classic pyramidal shape, K2 is steep on all sides. It is the perfect embodiment of our mental image of what a great mountain should be like. The climber who has designs on K2’s summit must not only content with extreme altitude and difficult rock and ice, but with sudden storms that deplete strength and erode willpower."

Jim Curran describes his first view of K2 in his book K2 Triumph and Tragedy:

"The sight made my flesh crawl, and took away what little breath I had. K2. There it was, unequivocal, real, present, impassive and quite momentarily huge. A great triangle that hung like a gigantic backdrop to the silent amphitheatre of Concordia."

Ascent Of K2 - Ardito Desio, Walter Bonatti, Achille Compagnoni, Lino Lacedelli, Mahdi, Mario Puchoz
14/11/2013

Ascent Of K2 - Ardito Desio, Walter Bonatti, Achille Compagnoni, Lino Lacedelli, Mahdi, Mario Puchoz

K2 8611-M is the second highest peak in the world and highest peak in Pakistan. K2 also known as CHOGORI which is Balti ...
14/11/2013

K2 8611-M is the second highest peak in the world and highest peak in Pakistan. K2 also known as CHOGORI which is Balti language means the king of mountains.K2 has variously be described as "awesome" , " Killer " and "Savage Mountain. This is because of massiveness of its size and unsuccessful attempts made on it by various expedition parties.K2 is rocky mountain upto 6000-M, beyond which it becomes an ocean of snow. K2 8611-M is situated on the Pakistan China border in the mighty Karakorams. The traditional rout to its base camp goes from Skardu Baltistan which is linked with Islamabad by Karakoram Highway as well as by air. From Skardu the rout goes via Shigar-Dassu-Askole upto Concordia over the Baltoro Glacier.

It was in 1856, when the British were enforcing their control over India provoking the 1857 war of Independence, that a young Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers, T.G.Montgomerie, was quietly busy in surveying the mountains of Kashmir he saw this tallest mountain towards Karakoram and named it K2.The name K2 however still stands.

In 1860 Captain Henry Haversham Godwin Austen of the Survey of India went to Baltistan are and surveyed the famous Shigar and Saltoro Valleys. He was considered as one of the greatest mountaineer of day, had great power of endurance and was immensely brave. It is a myth that the K2 peak which is erroneously called Godwin- Austen peak was discovered by him.It is however a fact that he explored the gateway to K2 i-e Baltoro Glacier alongiwth famous glaciers including Godwin Austen glacier.

It was probably for the first time in 1902 that an organised expedition of Oscar J.L Eckenstein trvelled to K2 from Baltoro glacier. The expedition was without any guide. Its aim was to explore approaches to the mountain and possibly have a try on the peak. The party collected useful information about the upper Godwin Austen glacier which was used as a stepping stone by expedition in later years. Two members of the expedition one Swiss Dr.Jules Jacot-Guillarmot and other an Austrian by the name of Dr. V.Wesseley succeededin reaching 6523-M on the north eastern ridge of K2.

In 1909 a big Italian expedition under the leadership of resolute Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe (Duke of Abruzzi) the grandson of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, reconnoitred K2 peak. Its members produced a very good account of the expedition with photographs and accurate maps of Baltoro area.

Two famous British mountaineers Harold William Tilman and Eric Earle Shipton explored and surveyed the north face of K2 and its subsidiary glaciers in 1937.

In 1938 the American Alpine Club sponsored reconnaissance party for a visit to K2 area.The party reached a height of 7925-M after setting up eight camps. Famous American mountaineers like Dr. Charles Houston and Robert Bates were in this party. Next year another American expedition tried to climb K2 led by Fritz Hermann Ernst Wiessner a German- American chemist and mountaineer. The expedition along with Nine Sherpas made very good progress on the already identified south east ridge. Wiessner alongwith one sherpa went upto approximately 8382-M. In this expedition Wolfe and three sherpas died on K2.

Another American expedition attempt on the K2 8611-M was made in 1953. The expedition leader was Dr. Charles Houstton who had also led the 1938 American expedition on this peak. Dr.Houston medical professor noted for his contribution to research on the effects of high altitude on human body and diseases originating from such effects. One Pakistani Late Colonel Mr.Ataullah also accompanied the party.

In 1954 an Italian expdittion came to Pakistan to try its luck on K2. It consisted of twelve climber and four scientists and was led by veteran mountaineer Professor Ardito Desio, who had come to these mountains with italian expeditions before the Word war II.
This expedition made very good progress and set up camp II. It was at this cmap that one of its members Mario Puchoz a 36 year old guide died of pneumonia on the 21st June 1954.

The party extablished six more camps on the south east ridge Camp IX was bivouac. On the 31st July Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagononi started from the bivouac. They exhausted their oxygen supply 500 feet short of summit but could not resist the temptation to be the first to climb the mighty K2 peak. They therefore continued their assault and reached the summit at six in the evening. After staying for a while they started descending and reached camp VIII round about eleven at night. In this way the saga of K2 ended.

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