Deep snow prevented international expedition to K2 from getting to the second camp

Today participants of the expedition to K2 were planning to set the second camp at 6,400m, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz. Zhumayev's plan was: “Tomorrow we wake up at 3 a.m. and start working at 5 a.m. The first group of three people will hang the railings and set the second camp (6,400m). The second group of three people will walk from the first camp to the second.” Vassiliy Pivtsov, Ralf Dujmovits and Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner were supposed to spend this night at the new camp for acclimatization. And Zhumayev, Darek Zaluski and Tommy Heinrich were to take the ropes to the new camp and come back to the first camp for the night. In case everything would go perfectly, the alpinists were even planning to check the road to the third camp. However things did not go as planned. Deep snow prevented international expedition to K2 from setting the second camp on Chogori, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz. “We had to change our plans as the snow condition on a mount is not very gpod. More snow than we expected fell in the last several days. We need more time to get to the second camp. Today we had to once again make the path to the altitude where we stopped last time. We spent too much effort on this,” Zhumayev said. Four participants of the expedition, Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov from Kazakhstan, as well as Polish Darek Zaluski and Tommy Heinrich from Argentina will spend a night in the first caDaytonday, July 13. Tomorrow at 5 a.m. they will join Ralf Dujmovits and Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner who stayed at the mount and will spend a night at 6,000 meters. “Today we managed to take 800 meters of ropes to this altitude. Tomorrow we will take more equipment and tents to Ralf and Gerlinda and will continue working towards the second camp. The situation is not simple. We can only work before noon, as the snow becomes heavier after lunch and there is a risk of landslides,” the alpinist added. According to the sportsman, the expedition does not have time to wait in the base camp for the risky snow situation to end: “Now we have to act quickly and effectively. The weather in Karakorum is unstable, so we cannot wait till the snow melts and it is safe to ascend. According to forecasts, no snow expected in the next three days, so we will use this time to the maximum.” Chogori is located in Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.