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K2 Plan B: The Cesen Route
Jul 2, 2004 13: 10 EST
Climbers currently climbing other mountains in Pakistan but planning to head off for K2 right afterwards, such as Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Chad Kellogg and the Japanese Dosanko team, are convinced: the Abruzzi Spur is far too crowded. Therefore, they will take a look at the Cesen route.
Suicide if wet
Already on K2, the Navarrese Iñaki Ochoa de Olza has not yet made up his mind. He is first climbing up to 6600m on the Abruzzi as a re-acclimatization climb, and back in BC he'll decide between that line and the Cesen rotue.
On his fourth time to K2, he's got good reasons to doubt. As he explained to ExWeb in an interview before departing, "first we need to check the snow conditions, very important on K2. For example, when I went there in 2002 there was a lot of snow and any other route than the Abruzzi Spur would have been suicide; there were avalanches almost every day. 2003 on the other hand was a very dry season, and I saw no avalanches over the Cesen route. So, first we will get there, and then decide the route to go."
Last week's snows were intense, so the mountain is currently far from 'dry'.
More demanding but safer in the right conditions
The 4000 meter long Cesen route (also dubbed as the 'Basque route' or 'Spanish Route'), follows a spur, just on the right side of the South face, which leads to a shoulder at 7800m, where it joins the Abruzzi Spur route, above camp 3. It is technically slightly more demanding than the Abruzzi, but safer if the conditions are good.
A controversial first climb
The Cesen Route was first climbed by the controversial Slovenian climber Tomo Cesen, who soloed the route in the tragic year of 1986 - 13 people died that season on K2. Cesen climbed the Spur but didn't summit, as he saw the terrible storm coming when he reached the shoulder, and retreated in time.
The Slovenian was climbing without a permit, so there was no publication about the new line.
The pioneer about the route
One year later, a Basque team led by Juanjo San Sebastián climbed that same SSE Spur - believing they were the first - and continued on the Abruzzi up to 8350m.
ExplorersWeb has chatted with Juanjo San Sebastián about the route. He recalls:
“When we were there, the whole route was covered in snow up to 7200m, but rock was just a few inches underneath, we hit it when kicking with our crampons. It is a demanding route with sustained steepness. We just set one high camp at 7200m, in the only suitable place we found, right below a rock outcrop. Almost at 8000m the spur joins the Abruzzi; we made a bivouac there, and next morning continued on the normal route up above the big serac, before being forced to turn back.
“The lack of snow was otherwise an advantage, as the avalanche risk was acceptable. Anyway, thinking back, we started climbing in August! I wonder how the route would look now; with large amounts of fresh snow, it could perhaps be too exposed to avalanches.”
“Watching K2, at a first sight our route seems the most logical, natural way to get to the top. Its difficulty is sustained, but it has no outstandingly tricky sections as those on the Abruzzi, such as House’s Chimney or the Black Pyramid.”
“The route traverses to the left about one hour before reaching Abruzzi’s ABC, to climb a wide couloir that leads to the buttress. Then it follows the spur slightly to the left. Although you are climbing the spur, you only occasionally hit its actual edge.
Ace female climber, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has summited Cho Oyu, Makalu, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat at the same time as Iñaki Ochoa de Olza this past summer and most recently Annapurna - thus making 5 8,000ers.
Gerlinde is considered one of the top female high altitude climbers and is the 6th women to ever reach Anna's summit. She also has Shisha Pangma Central and Broad Peak foresummit.
Iñaki Ochoa de Olza (Pamplona, 1967), has been devoted to high altitude climbing since a very young age: he summited Mont Blanc at 17 years old, and almost made it to the top of Kanchenjunga at 22! That experience made him to focus on Himalayan peaks and eighthousanders, as an independent climber or as a high altitude guide working for commercial expeditions. Now he is involved in completing the 14 8000+, having summited eight of them.
Chad Kellogg is a native of Washington State. He has climbed Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali, and won the speed climb on Khan Tengri in 2003. Currently he is planning an expedition to Pakistan for summer 2004; Broad Peak and K2 double header. Longer-range goals include speed ascents on 8,000-meter peaks and alpine style first ascents.
Tomo Cesen was born in Slovenia in 1959. Pioneer of solo extreme climbing, he has accomplished remarkable feats, but also some of his climbs have been put into doubt, or even not considered official due to lack of proof, such as South Face of Lhotse, 'No Siesta' to Grandes Jorasses or Jannu North face.
Juanjo San Sebastián, from Bilbao (Basque Country - Spain) has climbed Makalu, Cho Oyu, Shisha Pangma central and K2, reaching the summit at his fourth try in 1994.
Image of K2 courtesy of Andalucía K2. Routes (red for Cesen and yellow for Abruzzi) compiled by ExWeb.
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