Words By + Photos Provided By: Adrian Hayes
Following the tragic murder of 11 climbers at Nanga Parbat Base Camp on 22nd June, and the subsequent delay of a week, we had the challenge of making up for lost time and have had to speed up the process of completing rotations – climbing and staying at the camps for a period of time at a higher altitude to acclimatise.
As a result, we spent a tough five days climbing and camping in atrocious weather at Camp 1 (6,100m) and Camp 2 (6,700m) – a fast track acclimatisation compared to normal on 8,000m peaks. In addition, I have done a couple of climbs to altitude just to help get my body prepared.
Along with my team consisting of Al Hancock (Canada), Lakpa Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Nima Sherpa and Cheji Sherpa (all from Nepal), we are now ready for our summit attempt which will take five days. If successful, we are summiting on Sunday, 28th July. The final push will start at 8:00 p.m. on the night of 27th July, with the aim of summiting at around 10 or 11 o’clock on Sunday morning.
Though there are no weather windows similar to the Himalayas in the past few years, the end of July to early August has been the best period to summit, and this year is similar. We appear to be in a period of stable weather with very good forecasts from 27th onwards. We are all prepared and on schedule, the only question is whether we’ve had enough time at altitude.
With uneasiness in the air, following the events at Nanga Parbat, it was comforting that the people of Baltistan – the province containing K2 and three other 8,000m peaks in Pakistan (Gasherbrum 1 and 2 and Broad Peak) – were so welcoming and friendly, they truly are charming and warm people, and of course, the surroundings are spectacular.
The atmosphere at Base Camp is also a very welcoming one. On the mountain, there are seven small teams including 21 climbers from 11 countries along with seven Sherpas, eight Pakistani high altitude porters, plus cooks and assistants strung out on the Baltoro Glacier over a distance of approximately 600m. Everyone is cooperative and supportive of the challenge ahead.
Food at Base Camp is fine with a couple of cooks and the usual treats of chapatis, rice, vegetables and some meat. Up the mountain it is sparser. Living at 5,000m and with less nutrition than back home, naturally you won’t operate at peak performance. I’ve been taking supplements – provided by support sponsors MEFITPRO – to keep nutrition levels as high as possible.
I’ve had a nasty chest infection and have been taking antibiotics, but that has nearly cleared, and should be gone by the time we commence the summit attempt.
Camp 1 and 2 are both precariously situated on the side of the mountain. The climb up K2 from Advance Base Camp is steep all the way with no flat areas at all until you reach Camp 4 on the shoulder at 7,600m. The camps are dug out wherever possible on tiny areas of sloping ground.
Camp 2 was particularly harsh in terms of the weather, but I haven’t got any complaints about the cold – for me the heat has been more of a problem, the sun beating down on snow and ice is totally draining.
The day before the summit is spent packing up the kit, going through it with a fine tooth comb and ensuring I only take what is completely necessary for the next five days on the last push.
K2 has only ever been summited by 300 people since its first ascent in 1954, and if I succeed in reaching the summit, I will become one of only three people in history to have summited the world’s two highest mountains and reached both poles. I will also be the first Briton to have ever achieved this.
As the final leg of the expedition approaches it becomes quite surreal – three years in concept, a hard year in planning, preparation and training and on the mountain for over a month – but everything boils down to the final five days. It’s a poignant moment, and a powerful feeling. So much has gone into this expedition, and it is going to be hard work, very trying on the body and extremely difficult at times, so of course I feel apprehensive and anxious, but I am confident. I didn’t come here to fail.
