Expedition to K2. ©NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/Darek Zaluski
Participants of the international expedition to K2 had to take additional safeguard measures on their way back to Chinese base camp because of a landslide possibility, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz. “A small river where we took water from turned into a real mudflow carrying rocks and ice. It’s good that it is on a safe distance, 50 meters, from us. But there are about ten such rivers on the way to Chinese camp and they all pose a threat. We need to be very careful,” Zhumayev said. Meanwhile, alpinists received confirmation of the forecast saying that the storm will last until July 30. “We have enough time and we would like to prepare well for the fourth trip. It is very good in the base camp: there is grass, bushes, more oxygen. Besides, we were told that two boxes of beer are waiting for us. Everyone is in a wonderful mood, we want to take rest today, we’ll have a camp fire tonight,” the alpinist added. Zhumayev also noted that the long storm should not make the route to the third camp worse. “There is only wind there, without any snow. This should be even good for us. The routes that we made might even become better and we will be able to reach our previous height without any problems. We will start preparing for the fourth trip on Friday,” the sportsman said. The next trip’s task is to set the third camp and work on the route to the fourth one at 8,000 meters. Chogori is located in Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.
Participants of the international expedition to K2 had to take additional safeguard measures on their way back to Chinese base camp because of a landslide possibility, Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev told Tengrinews.kz.
“A small river where we took water from turned into a real mudflow carrying rocks and ice. It’s good that it is on a safe distance, 50 meters, from us. But there are about ten such rivers on the way to Chinese camp and they all pose a threat. We need to be very careful,” Zhumayev said.
Meanwhile, alpinists received confirmation of the forecast saying that the storm will last until July 30. “We have enough time and we would like to prepare well for the fourth trip. It is very good in the base camp: there is grass, bushes, more oxygen. Besides, we were told that two boxes of beer are waiting for us. Everyone is in a wonderful mood, we want to take rest today, we’ll have a camp fire tonight,” the alpinist added.
Zhumayev also noted that the long storm should not make the route to the third camp worse. “There is only wind there, without any snow. This should be even good for us. The routes that we made might even become better and we will be able to reach our previous height without any problems. We will start preparing for the fourth trip on Friday,” the sportsman said.
The next trip’s task is to set the third camp and work on the route to the fourth one at 8,000 meters. Chogori is located in Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.