valeblog

After the second rotation on Broad Peak, I hoped we’d get a day rest. Resting a day in base camp after sleeping in the high camps helps a lot with acclimatization. Not to mention on the way up a rock rolled under me and I hurt my left knee. Luckily it got better after the rest in camp 1, but it’s still not good. Letting it recover would’ve been nice.

Except the weather forecast had other plans. There wasn’t enough time anymore to waste: snow was coming, and probably to stay too for weeks. Which meant we only had this one chance to move for the summit. Those who wanted a rest in camp 1 would start the next day, while those who were okay with the long way straight to camp 2 would get a day.

After taking a day of rest after the first rotation in base camp, we were heading back for the second rotation on Broad Peak. This time the goal was to sleep in camp 2, and preferably hike above camp 2, maybe even touch camp 3.

We started early in the morning so the glacier rivers would still be frozen and the snow firm. Once the rivers on the glacier thaw, traversing the moraine becomes much more difficult. The rivers’ flow is too strong and the terrain too slippery to cross just anywhere, and finding a safe crossing isn’t easy even with experience. (Hell, a local porter died trying to jump one of the rivers…) Higher up on the mountain having firm snow means much easier progress. Not sliding back a step for every two steps forward is a huge difference in exhaustion.

As soon as the weather allowed, the Sherpa team set out to fix the ropes on Broad Peak. To make the most out of the good weather, we followed a few hours later in their trail, just late enough to minimize rockfall risk.

Once again I got scammed. Every day they’d tell us something like “breakfast at 7, we leave at 8” then they’d be shaking my tent at 6 and we’d hit the trail before 7. So today I was way ahead of the announced schedule, but they were yet another half an hour early.

Pretty tough and long hike. Loose rocks all the way made it really exhausting. The Sherpas were of course moving really quick, so I felt pretty drained when we stopped for lunch.

20km or so trek to Paju camp (about 3300m). Only 200m gain, but lots of up-the-cliff down-to-the-river all day so my watch was saying 700m climb total.