International expedition to K2 could not reach the second camp

Participants of the international expedition to K2, also called Chogori, came back to the base camp. The works on ascending the mount had to be suspended because of the bad weather, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz. “It was snowing all night. There is about 10 cm of snow right now. Visibility is very low. We cannot work in such conditions. But we have still done something during a day. We came back to the base camp, took 300-400 meters of rope each and brought it to the advance camp where we packed it to make sure the wind does not blow it away and went back to the base camp,” Zhumayev said. The alpinists are satisfied with the results of the first advancement to Chogori: “We have covered almost two thirds of the distance to the second camp and found a safe route. Yesterday we stopped at the height of 6,300 meter. I need to say that this part of the route from the first to the second camp is the most difficult and requires the most amount of work. It should be easier further on. We have already overcome the key parts of the route to the second camp.” The sportsmen will spend at least two days in the base camp waiting for a better weather. “We lost weight during these days. So now we are waiting for a good dinner. Our cooks promised to slaughter one sheep, so we'll have some meat for dinner,” alpinist added. Austrian alpinist Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner seems to put up with the fact that her partners are not going to join her in her vegetarianism. “We gave her canned beef today. She crinkled first but then admitted it was very tasty. Of course, vegetables are no good in the mountains. But she seems to be fine about it,” Kazakhstan sportsmen said. The goal of the expedition is to ascent the most northern eight-thousander: the 8611 meter tall Chogori. It is located in the Karakorum mountain range in Kashmir province (at the border between Pakistan and China). This is the sixth attempt to ascent K2 for Zhumayev.