Back at Base Camp after 4 days up high on K2

I’m safely back in Base Camp after 4 days up high on K2 and ‘wow’, what a mountain.  It is genuinely like nothing I’ve ever climbed on before.

But in the meantime back to the early morning of 7 July before we left.

Rather than leaving at midnight we ended up leaving after 3am as three of the team had developed a stomach bug and decided (wisely) not to move up, particularly as we had a genuinely huge climb ahead of us.

The expedition leader had decided on a particular strategy, part due to the strength of the team and part due to the lack of any space at Camp 1, which was for us to climb all the way from Base Camp which is at roughly 4,900 meters, straight up the Cesen route to Camp 2, which is at 6,300 meters.  I’ve never done a 1,400 meter vertical height gain in a single day at high altitude, nor had anyone else, so I was pretty apprehensive as to how it would work.  We were all advised to take Diamox to attempt to alleviate some of the inevitable symptoms.

We filed out of Base Camp just after 3am, threw rice three times at the Sherpa Puja altar for good luck, and headed into the night.  The soft snow of the day was crunchy underfoot and the glacier almost completely flat.  After no more than an hour we reached the base of the Cesen route, ready to put on crampons and harnesses.

Looming above us in the dark, in perfect clarity, was K2.  From the base of the route it rose straight up, almost as if not connected to the glacier, as if someone had made a huge wedding cake and plonked it on a white plate.  It is staggering in its size and steepness.

Once we geared up – harnesses, helmets in case of falling rocks or ice from above, crampons – we moved onto the mountain itself.  This is where technically we were no longer trekking (trekkers can get to base Camp) but finally climbing this extraordinary mountain. 

The angle went to 45 degrees immediately, and then very quickly to 50 degrees.  The higher we went the steeper it got, and every step up was tiring.  After about an hour I realised my feet were slipping in my new high altitude boots (I later found out they were a size too big, the shop had given me the wrong size), so my heel lifted over an inch in my boots with every step, which was painful and even more exhausting than just climbing.

Up and up we went as dawn broke over the Karakorum, and given the Cesen line is so direct, it didn’t take long for us to see the tents of Base Camp far below us.  We passed the site of Camp 1 and it was clear why it was impossible for even part of the team to stay there.  Perched precariously on the ridge were just two tents, there was space for no more.  That’s one of the problems with K2, it is so steep that there is almost nowhere to pitch a tent on the lower reaches.

At the saddle below Camp 1 there was a small space (maybe 2m x 1.5m in size) to rest, and I took my boots off to add two more socks and tighten the laces of the inner boots.  Everything had to be attached the mountain lest it slipped, my rucksack was clipped into the rope, my crampons too.  The act of just taking your boots off and adding some socks was a major operation.  Drop a crampon and the climb was over right there (and it was not clear how I would get down either).

Once done we headed up and the ground steepened again.  Here it was at a 60 degree angle, rising straight up, hugging the edge of the spur.  As you looked down you realise that if you fall, you will not only die but you will 100% end up at the bottom of the mountain on the glacier, its that sheer.  You just have to trust your footwork and the ropes that are there.

Speaking of ropes there are sections where there are maybe 10 different types of rope all running along the same passage, all but one from expeditions past and some as old as from 1994 when the Cesen was first climbed.  These ropes can look OK but they are exceptionally dangerous to use.  Many people have clipped into old ropes, put their weight on them and the ropes have snapped as they have become frayed through abrasion and weakened through exposure.  It happened last year to a climber on the Abruzzi who clipped into the wrong rope, leant back to abseil, and fell to his death, his body cartwheeling past at least four people who I’ve spoken to and who saw it.  It is vital to be extremely vigilant, as you just cannot make a mistake up here.

After a very steep section over some rock we traversed left at a mild angle, but then the final rock and snowslopes to Camp 2 must have been at a 65 degree angle.  By now we’d come up 1,300 meters and I could feel the altitude.  Maybe ten steps and then I’d be slumped over the rope, panting for breath.  Then the tents came into sight and soon we were on the ledge where they were placed.  It was 11.30am and we’d done the climb in 7.5 hours vs the estimated 12 hours and I was glad it was over.

The tents themselves were placed in two rows on two separate ledges, one a climb from the other.  Ten in total, all with one side hanging over the abyss.  I settled into one with one of my fellow climbers.  So precarious was the terrain, with a drop of 1,300 meters to the glacier if you slipped, that you could only unclip from the rope (and take off your crampons and harness) once inside the tent.  It took a lot of work but eventually we settled in and fell asleep.  Dinner was boil in the bag dehydrated Pad Thai, passed through the tent door from one to the other.  I was surprised to find that I was incredibly hungry (altitude kills your appetite) and I wolfed down two portions and over 1,000 calories.  I felt good and amazingly had no headache.  I slept soundly.

The next morning we set off towards Camp 3 and were immediately on even steeper ground, mixed rock and ice.  The great serac on K2’s summit pyramid was becoming visible, as was the summit itself through the clouds.  After a few hours we reached our high point on the mini ‘shoulder’ of the spur and could stare down at the Abruzzi.  We were at 6,700 meters and I felt great.  The views were mesmerising, with the familiar (from photos) winding Karakoram glacial patters and many of the peaks we’d trekked past now below us.  This finally felt like the high, high mountains and even if I go no further on this expedition, I will never forget that view.

We returned arm-rapelling to Camp 2 for a second night and rested the next day.  Life is odd up there; you are effectively stuck in your tent all day as leaving it means ropes, boots, crampons and clipping into the fixed lines.  I slept and read and ate more, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful.

The morning of 10 July was stormy and the tent fabric flapped wildly in the wind.  We were due off at 6am to descend to Base Camp and getting ready in the cold, two to a tent and with all the sharp metal, was complicated. 

Once done we emerged into, if not a full storm then a windy squall, and began the descent. It is too steep to walk down so it is only possibel to descend by ropes.  Rappel after rappel, down and down we went.  It was endless, the hot friction on the arms and through the hand to control the speed, sometimes with the body almost horizontal as we leant in.  I rappelled forwards, facing down the mountain, its quicker and more efficient that way.  After about 4 hours we reached the bottom and the glacier and finally unclipped.  After removing gear we began the walk back to Base Camp and we met by two of the kitchen staff with bottles of cold Sprite and Coke, which is a real luxury as each would have had to be carried for 8 days by the kitchen support porters.

That was yesterday and we are now back in Base Camp, resting.  We’ll be here for at least 4 more days before going back up and there is an ongoing debate about tactics for the next rotation, the weather forecast, and so on.  The weather has been very good but it is now breaking, and I can only hope that K2’s great joke is not to provide is with almost ideal weather for the acclimatisation period, the load carrying and the establishment of the camps, only to shut the door when we are ready to go higher and even make a summit bid.  It would not be the first time that has happened as is one of the reasons why K2 is so unpredictable.

For now, over and out from Base Camp.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Walking towards the bottom of the Cesen route at 3am on 7 July

Looking up at K2 from the bottom of the Cesen

Garrett and me getting ready to climb

Mingma Dorje Sherpa at the rest point below Camp 1 where I added socks

Me just below Camp 1

Steep Ascent

Our tent plateau at Camp 2 for 3 nights on the edge (ours was the first)

Dinner

More steep climbing above Camp 2

Mixed snow and rock, very steep

The view from our high point at 6,700 meters (you can see the tents of Base Camp bottom right on the glacier)

Garrett at our high point: the summit of K2 is directly above his head

Me at our highest point

The kitchen staff bring up Coke and Sprite once we rappelled down from Camp 2 to the glacier and 'terra firma'