From Stu in the usa office
June 22, 2010
Chris called in from Concordia (see audio dispatch at the end) to let us know that all is well and that our first group will be pulling into Broad Peak BC today and the second group a few days from now.
They have had excellent weather and views and are looking forward to getting set up at BC and getting the climb under way! Chris was going to get up early today at Concordia, scoot over pick out a good spot for BC. He will then begin to get things set up for the summer including the solar power, lights, communications not to mention arranging the several tons of gear arriving. For the summer we have more than 4500m of rope on the way as well as 27 snow stakes, 4 shovels, 25 biners, 15 MSR stoves, 2 Jet Boils, 180 catridges of fuel, 22 handset radios, 22 tents (Marmot Thor 2/3 and Alpinists), 6 6L dromedaries for water at camps, 3 solar panels (and a backup generator), sat phones & pda's, cook tent (and all their cooking gear and kerosene!), mess tent (complete with cards and monopoly), toilet tent (and loads of TP), shower tent, BC hang out tent, some 25 bottles of oxygen and so on! It is quite a thing to move an entire small city over 80km to the edge of a moving glacier at the base of a 3000m high wall of snow and ice!! All carried in 25kg packages on the backs of hard working Balti porters. Any expedition relies on them for demanding and challenging work in harsh conditions.
This carries on further for the high altitude porters working on the mountain who put in extraordinary effort on steep slopes and at high altitude. In 2008 several HAP's lost their lives on K2 and a fund was established to support their families. We encourage you to learn more about this worthy cause and donate to: The Gerard McDonnell Memorial Fund .
We'll be reminding you all about this fund throughout the summer!
Chris calls in from Concordia with views of Broad Peak and K2! Enjoy listening in!
Listen to all the Field Touring Alpine Audio Dispatches at Gabcast
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