Caravan on the way. Photo courtesy of Maksut Zhumayev
Participants of international expedition to K2, also called Chogori, decided to stay in Italian (intermediate) camp. It was not possible to take all required equipment and food on donkeys any higher into the mountains, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz. “Donkeys will not be able to walk on ice and there is around two tons of load. People will not be able to take this load up to the Advance Base Camp quickly. That's why we decided to stay here. The whole expedition is here. We are settling. Tents have been installed. Vassiliy and I will have our personal house for two-three months, where we will spend our free time and miss our families. I am now arranging pictures of my wife and kids,” Zhumayev said. Thus, Italian camp has now become the Advance Base Camp for the expedition. It is located at 4,600 m above the sea level. “Higher, where we were supposed to have the advance camp, we will set a camp at the height of 5,200 m. This will require us to take 200-300 kg of so called “social equipment”, which includes ropes, ice-breakers and ice-picks, tents and gas bottles. The remaining personal stuff like boots, clothes, sleeping bags, safety ropes will remain here, we will carry it from the base camp every time,” alpinist added. He also said that the advance camp is lower than it was planned, but that will not affect the expedition's timing. “There will be a short delay. We already had such situation in 2007, when we had to walk extra 20 km back and forth. We walked with one stop for the night. It used to be more difficult. This time is not bad. This is a standard situation in Hymalayas, when one needs to walk two days from the base camp. We will have to walk only one day,” Kazakhstan sportsmen said. There are advantages of such location of the advance base camp. “Here, where we will live, there is soil and grass. I even saw some flowers today. There is a small river. Quite normal living conditions.” Further the expedition will work in twos and threes. Darek Zaluski and Tommy Heinrich can join Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov. Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner who worked with Kazakhstan sportsmen for the last few days, will work with Ralf Dujmovits. Chogori is located in Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.
Participants of international expedition to K2, also called Chogori, decided to stay in Italian (intermediate) camp. It was not possible to take all required equipment and food on donkeys any higher into the mountains, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz.
“Donkeys will not be able to walk on ice and there is around two tons of load. People will not be able to take this load up to the Advance Base Camp quickly. That's why we decided to stay here. The whole expedition is here. We are settling. Tents have been installed. Vassiliy and I will have our personal house for two-three months, where we will spend our free time and miss our families. I am now arranging pictures of my wife and kids,” Zhumayev said.
Thus, Italian camp has now become the Advance Base Camp for the expedition. It is located at 4,600 m above the sea level. “Higher, where we were supposed to have the advance camp, we will set a camp at the height of 5,200 m. This will require us to take 200-300 kg of so called “social equipment”, which includes ropes, ice-breakers and ice-picks, tents and gas bottles. The remaining personal stuff like boots, clothes, sleeping bags, safety ropes will remain here, we will carry it from the base camp every time,” alpinist added.
He also said that the advance camp is lower than it was planned, but that will not affect the expedition's timing. “There will be a short delay. We already had such situation in 2007, when we had to walk extra 20 km back and forth. We walked with one stop for the night. It used to be more difficult. This time is not bad. This is a standard situation in Hymalayas, when one needs to walk two days from the base camp. We will have to walk only one day,” Kazakhstan sportsmen said.
There are advantages of such location of the advance base camp. “Here, where we will live, there is soil and grass. I even saw some flowers today. There is a small river. Quite normal living conditions.”
Further the expedition will work in twos and threes. Darek Zaluski and Tommy Heinrich can join Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov. Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner who worked with Kazakhstan sportsmen for the last few days, will work with Ralf Dujmovits.
Chogori is located in Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.