from stu in the usa office
25th July, 2011
Chris has called in from Broad Peak to let us know that three members have summited and that the entire summit team is headed back to C3. At the time of Chris's dispatch Sophie, Wim and Andre had made the summit and were working their way down. Further down below the col Mike was descending with Jeff who was quite tired.
Showing posts with label sophie denis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sophie denis. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
FTA K2/Broad Peak 2011 - Second round of acclimatization done...summit bids ahead!
From Stu in the USA office
July 4, 2011
Chris has called in from BC to let us know that everyone is well and that most of team is in BC resting up for a summit bid. Sophie and Lakpa have remained high and are hoping for a break on Thursday in the winds to make a summit attempt. The remainder of the team is down at BC resting up for the next few days and then will hope for a good window perhaps around the 9th or 10th.
The camp 4 that sometimes we establish is often placed on a small flat area at around 7500m and it is quite a spot! It can reduce the summit day by a few crucial hours and especially when the summit ridge is giving short windows of low wind this can be the small advantage making a summit bid possible.
The views from C4 are spectacular but one rarely gets much sleep there between the altitude and the anticipation of leaving early for a summit bid. The sun comes onto the slope quite late in the morning so it is a very cold start and the ridge offers the first rays of warming sun. With summit winds to remain at or above 30km/hr Sophie and Lakpa will have their work cut out for them to make it to the top and back safely.
They will have to negotiate the summit ridge which is quite steep on both sides and offers little protection from wind. We have seen summits in winds like this before but they are very demanding and most parties will wait for a lower winds. As Chris says in his dispatch Lakpa and Sophie will try to thread the weather needle later this week so we wish a great window for them!
In the image below you can see the true summit of Broad Peak well back to the left and the rocky summit directly ahead. The distance between the rocky and true summits is some 900m with only a 12m rise. With calm winds this is a lot of work and in high winds a nearly unimaginable amount of effort.
After reaching the top or a high point then one must negotiate a winding ridge back to the relative safety of the col at 7850m. From there it is a short rappel/downclimb to the main slopes leading back to high camp. This upper slope has a few narrow crevasses which must be negotiated. They can be hard to see from above and have been the site of at least a few serious accidents requiring evacs from high on the hill. After winding through the upper slopes it is finally back to the warm tent and a hot brew!
We'll have more news shortly about any summit bids!
July 4, 2011
Chris has called in from BC to let us know that everyone is well and that most of team is in BC resting up for a summit bid. Sophie and Lakpa have remained high and are hoping for a break on Thursday in the winds to make a summit attempt. The remainder of the team is down at BC resting up for the next few days and then will hope for a good window perhaps around the 9th or 10th.
The camp 4 that sometimes we establish is often placed on a small flat area at around 7500m and it is quite a spot! It can reduce the summit day by a few crucial hours and especially when the summit ridge is giving short windows of low wind this can be the small advantage making a summit bid possible.
 |
| The lonely camp 4 at 7500m © stu remensnyder |
The views from C4 are spectacular but one rarely gets much sleep there between the altitude and the anticipation of leaving early for a summit bid. The sun comes onto the slope quite late in the morning so it is a very cold start and the ridge offers the first rays of warming sun. With summit winds to remain at or above 30km/hr Sophie and Lakpa will have their work cut out for them to make it to the top and back safely.
They will have to negotiate the summit ridge which is quite steep on both sides and offers little protection from wind. We have seen summits in winds like this before but they are very demanding and most parties will wait for a lower winds. As Chris says in his dispatch Lakpa and Sophie will try to thread the weather needle later this week so we wish a great window for them!
In the image below you can see the true summit of Broad Peak well back to the left and the rocky summit directly ahead. The distance between the rocky and true summits is some 900m with only a 12m rise. With calm winds this is a lot of work and in high winds a nearly unimaginable amount of effort.
After reaching the top or a high point then one must negotiate a winding ridge back to the relative safety of the col at 7850m. From there it is a short rappel/downclimb to the main slopes leading back to high camp. This upper slope has a few narrow crevasses which must be negotiated. They can be hard to see from above and have been the site of at least a few serious accidents requiring evacs from high on the hill. After winding through the upper slopes it is finally back to the warm tent and a hot brew!
 |
| Summit ridge view to the col © stu remensnyder |
We'll have more news shortly about any summit bids!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
FTA Broad Peak & K2 2011 - Summit push already under way!
From Stu in the USA office
25th June, 2011
Chris has called in with the latest at BC which includes that the team already has two members, Lakpa Sherpa and Sophie Denis, with designs on a rapid summit bid ahead of the fixed lines and established camps!
They have been having great weather and everyone if feeling well (despite a few GI challenges here and there). They have been working well with two other teams on the hill, Altitude Junkies and DAV, and the sense of camaraderie is running high. They have the rope fixed already to C2 and will be pushing the route through to C3 in the days ahead.
Coming off of summits of Everest (Lakpa) and Cho Oyu and Lhotse (Sophie), the plan had been to push up as high as they could go and see how they felt. Well they are feeling great and going to make a quick bid for the top Alpine style. The summit winds are expected to rise by the end of the day on the 26th so they hope to be up and back to high camp well ahead of the end of the day. I have climbed with Lakpa a number of times and he is one of the fastest climbers i have seen. Sophie put in some very quick times on Cho Oyu and Lhotse so they seem to make a good team!
We'll have all the news coming as they go for a very early summit on Broad Peak.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)