Combining Resources

K2 seems to be a quiet place these days, as everyone winds down from the tragic accident a few weeks ago. Once again, Dave Watson and his K2 Tall Mountain teammates are waiting for a weather window to go higher up and assess the conditions and necessary repair work. They called into KSL’s Utah Outdoors radio show again over the weekend, and the podcast is up online here: http://pandora.bonnint.net/audio/utahoutdoors.rss

Excerpt from the K2 Tall Mountain post:
The team is waiting impatiently for a weather window, again. K2 Base Camp is deserted with only this team, Sunny Mountain Chogori Expedition (George Dijmarescu and his two sherpas) and Mike Farris, one of the leaders of the Altitude Experience team, remaining. There is a snowstorm underway today, but the team is hoping to get a couple of clear days to go up to Camp 2 or 3 before the weather forecasts predict more unsettle weather. They plan to bring down some of the trash that was left on the mountain. They are looking for a minimum of three days of good weather to make a summit attempt…

…The team will need to take about 500m of rope up the mountain to fix the ropes that were taken out by the ice fall. They are still planning to take their own oxygen up the mountain to ensure they have an adequate supply, although it is rumored that oxygen tanks were left on the mountain. There was a lot of equipment left on the mountain as many teams left in a hurry after the incident. There have also been high winds for the last few days, so it’s hard to guess at what may or may not be left on the mountain and what the condition and stability of the snowpack is higher up.

For more dispatches and info, see all the K2 Tall Mountain posts here or visit the K2 Tall Mountain site.