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ExWeb series: Winds of Change on K2 - Fixed Ropes
Jul 22, 2004 16: 22 EST
Something is changing on K2. Something has already changed, and it will never be the same. Not the mountain itself; Chogori is still that impressive pyramid, dangerous, steep, 8611m high and exposed to extreme weather conditions. The difference rests on how climbers are facing the challenge of K2.
It’s not just because of the 50 year anniversary, though the celebration has brought an unprecedented number of climbers to the mountain. Modern climbers have a new set of principles, methods and attitudes towards K2 which are much more similar to the styles used on Everest.
Lessons from Everest
K2 - the ‘mountaineers mountain’ is still wrapped in an aura of mystery and adventure. You must be strong and determined to climb Everest but for K2 you need to be bold, even reckless. Climbing Everest is cool, but you need K2 to prove yourself as a really hard-core climber.
The problem is that K2 is dangerous – with a 26.77% summit/fatality ratio. So how does a climber balance the risk with the reward? The clue might be to learn from Everest. Something changed there too, which caused the number of climbers and successes to dramatically overtake the number of deaths. Aside from the help of high altitude Sherpas and supplementary O2, the revolution came with the massive use of fixed ropes and weather forecasts. All those resources – or tricks, depending on who you talk to - are used by commercial expeditions, resulting in an increase of summitting climbers and decrease in fatalities and injuries.
So, if it worked on an even higher mountain, why not do the same on K2?
Right or wrong - the future is here
It is not for us to judge if this is a right or a wrong way to climb. We won’t preach that the ‘everestization’ of K2 means an evolution or a regression to the 50’s-type expeditions… or both. In fact, the final conquest of the alpine North walls in the thirties and forties came with the breakthrough of new technology that gave us rock pitons and nylon rope.
What we would like to analyze in the upcoming series to be published during the next days is how solutions created on Everest may or may not work on this wild Karakorum mountain. There are similarities between Everest and K2, but also some crucial differences. The process of ‘everestization’ of K2 can be broken down to the following aspects:
I: Fixed Ropes
II: Mountain Guides
III: Weather and Forecasts
IV: Sherpas and High Altitude Porters
V: Crowding and Space
VI: Oxygen
Let’s start by…
Pulling the rope
Fixed ropes are common on every ‘classic’ route of the 14 ‘eighthousanders’. Over the years, as the number of climbers increases in base camps, the number of fixed sections also grows. Everest during peak season is ‘sewed up’ on every steep section on both sides. Alpine style climbing is very rare on the highest mountains. Even independent teams, climbing difficult or not so frequented routes, rely on fixed ropes.
The ropes main purpose is not to help climbers ascend the mountain. "Leaning" on the rope, or jumaring up on it is very risky and climbers avoid it. The ropes are instead a safety tool, just like the ones used for rock climbing. The ropes could save a life in a fall. They will show the way in fog, darkness or whiteout conditions. They will stop a climber slipping on ice or fainting from exhaustion.
This season, just like on Everest, the responsibility and shared task of fixing ropes has been discussed on K2 during team leader meetings. Two sets of ropes have already been fixed up to CII on the South Side and at least one set goes up the Black Pyramid to Camp III. Moreover, teams have only climbed up the mountain when those ropes were ready, and not before. That is the reason why all climbers on the Abruzzi route seem to be progressing at a similar rate. An equivalent situation can be expected on the North side, where the Koreans set ropes up to CII, according to the Italian team.
Rope or not
Doubts have come up concerning the strategy above Camp III. Is it worth while to fix ropes on the avalanche-prone Shoulder, or would climbers be better off to hurry up past that section? What about the fear-provoking Bottleneck and the impressive traverse to 8.400m? It is a long and exhausting way from CIV to the summit, and usually climbers have no time to mess with ropes.
This time, however, Sherpas hired from Nepal are fixing ropes up above Camp IV, through the Bottleneck and up the traverse, according to the Base Camp based Spanish ‘Correo Digital’ correspondent. The man responsible for this is Kari Kobler, a Swiss mountain guide leading a commercial expedition to K2. Last year, Kari went through the bitter experience of losing a team member above the Bottleneck where there were no ropes. This year, he is doing his best to improve safety conditions on the route for his 20,000€ paying clients.
Only yesterday, the Austrian climber Alfred Schreilechner reported: “The porters of the Swiss/Italian Expedition have reached 7800m and established Camp III and IV.” There they left a cache of tents and 500m of expensive Kevlar rope, to resume work when weather improves.
Summit at last?
Meanwhile, teams have recently finished their acclimatization process and tents are set above the Black Pyramid. The time for the summit bid gets closer. Now climbers are looking up the mountain in concern, not knowing what to expect. If the ropes are not fixed on time, it will be a totally different mountain from CIII and up. After the relatively ‘tame’ route up to 7200m, another 1400 meters of steep ice awaits the climbers and will show them that K2 is still, whatever they do, that ‘Savage Mountain’.
On the other hand, if the skilled Sherpas are able to fix the ropes, we will be watching a much safer K2 climb. K2 has turned back climbers for several years now. Hopefully the new strategy will hold, and ingenuity and collaboration will allow for success this year at last. If it does, the winds of change on K2 are here to stay.
New challenges will await instead in faster ascents, more difficult climbing styles, new routes and off season climbs. And let's not forget that far from the crowds, one team is currently attempting the first repetition of the Magic Line
Tomorrow part 2 - Winds of Change on K2: Mountain Guides
ExplorersWeb K2 Series:
Winds of Change on K2
I: Fixed Ropes
II: Mountain Guides
III: Weather and Forecasts
IV: Sherpas and High Altitude Porters
V: Crowding and Space
VI: Oxygen
Image of Edurne Pasaban, from ‘Al filo’ team on K2, courtesy of El Correo Digital
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