Arkistot ajalle heinäkuu, 2014

keskiviikko 30. heinäkuun 2014 11:07

Samuli summits K2!

Samuli has on morning of July 27th reached the summit of K2! At 8611-meters K2 is World’s second tallest mountain and considered as one of the most difficult and dangerous.
Samuli started the final section of the summit-push at Camp 4 at 7950-meters at 9:30pm on 26th. He reached the main summit at 8:15am. No bottled oxygen was used at any part of the expedition. Also, Samuli had no climbing partners or hired staff to assist him above basecamp at 5200-meters. Details on blog.

IMG_0540

Samuli saavutti K2:sen huipun 27.7.! 8611-metrinen K2 sijaitsee Pakistanissa ja on maailman toiseksi korkein vuori. Sitä pidetään yhtenä maailman vaikeimmista ja vaarallisimmista vuorista.
Samuli aloitti huippuyrityksen viimeisen etapin nelosleiristä (7950m.) 26.7. klo 21:30 ja saavutti vuoren päähuipun aamulla 8:15. Pullotettua happea ei käytetty missään vaiheessa matkaa. Lisäksi Samuli kiipesi perusleirin (5200m.) yläpuolella yksin.
Yksityiskohdat blogissa (englanniksi).

sunnuntai 20. heinäkuun 2014 13:11

Rotations on K2

Until now I have completed my necessary acclimatizing and rotations on K2’s Abruzzi Ridge and I hear teams are starting to look at suitable summit dates according to their forecasts. I have spent a night at Camp 3 (7450m) at highest which should give me adequate acclimatizing for attempt on the peak’s 8611-meter summit.

I of course had slight doubts about switching over from Broad Peak. K2 is notorious for being one of the World’s most dangerous mountains if not the most so. Avalanches, rockfalls and sudden storms have taken toll on climbers attempting the peak over it’s history. When compare the number of casualties related to number of summits this certainly is one of the most dangerous places on this planet. I did not feel comfortable on the mountain as I arrived at it’s base on July 5th.

IMG_0437

On my two rotations up to highcamps I started to get a feel of the mountain. Apparently the conditions are fairly good this year and my take on the mountain has altered. All the time I have the awareness brought by knowledge over the numerous accidents they’ve had here but still, I have in fact felt safe and comfortable. There’s been no avalanches on or close to route. I have not seen many rockfalls and also I have been able to quickly retreat from the mountain if the weather’s started to turn worse. In a way I have greatly enjoyed climbing the ”mountain of mountains”.

The abruzzi Ridge differs greatly from all the other 8000’ers normal routes. It is steep, mixed, rocky, complex and offers fine and enjoyable climbing in places. The crux pitches of House’s Chimney and the Black Pyramid are World’s mountaineering classics. Highcamps are stunning giving splendid views over Concordia and Godwin-Austin glaciers.
Close to Camp 3 (7450m.) you move to a different terrain as the ridge slightly flattens and widens out to form the Shoulder. Here you have views North to China as well as to many more peaks including the Gasherbrums.

IMG_0423

I have one more rotation to go to reach for the top. After a long period of heavy snowfall weather today started to get much better. I hear teams are starting to look at summit dates after 25th or 26th. This means I would tag along and hopefully start my summit attempt very soon.
I did not set up Camp 1 (6200m.) but will climb direct from Basecamp (5200m.) to my Camp 2 which I set up at 6700m below House’s Chimney. Next stage is to Camp 3 at 7450m from where it is a short, but strenuous climb to Shoulder at 7950m. Climb to Camp 4 is what I expect to be the hardest as I will be carrying a complete camping set-up as well as all the summit-gear and do that at extreme altitude with very little oxygen in the air.
From Camp 4 the summit-push is started late in the evening. First sections goes over a vast snowfield to base of so called ”bottleneck-couloir”. This can be considered as the single most dangerous part of the whole climb as you are climbing up a narrow funnel with a massive hanging glacier looming above. One can only hope the glacier sticks there solid long enough for you to climb the couloir and finally get aside at the ”bottleneck traverse”. After ”bottleneck traverse” you climb the steep snow slopes up towards the summit and hopefully, reach it in the morning.

During my summit attempt I will be sending daily tweets at twitter.com/Samuli_Mansikka ! Please follow my climb on World’s 2nd tallest mountain – ”Mountain on mountains”!

IMG_0415

lauantai 5. heinäkuun 2014 18:25

K2 Basecamp

Greetings from K2 Basecamp! Due to new regulations regarding joining teams and permits I have ended up attempting K2 instead of Broad Peak! I have been experiencing problems with Broad Peak permit as my local operator does not have a team there this season. They would have had me joined with another company’s team which apparently is not quite as common and accepted procedure here as it is in, let’s say, Nepal.

IMG_3116

Anyway, I have today reached K2 Basecamp at 5000 meters after starting in Concordia this morning. It is very windy on Karakorum summits and on K2 right now so need to wait to start rotations up ”Mountain of mountains”. I hear the route has already been fixed up to Camp 2 (approx 6650m.) which might reflect fairly good snow conditions.
Follow my attempt on K2 on Twitter at twitter.com/Samuli_Mansikka and Instagram at instagram.com/samulimansikka!

tiistai 1. heinäkuun 2014 15:20

Paiju

Warmest greetings from Paiju! Well, it’s beyond warm! It is boiling hot here! Anyway, my Broad Peak expedition is now well underway and the group I am joined with have reached our second trek camp. I am joined with an international K2 expedition and am trekking with them until K2 basecamp.
I arrived in Islamabad on 25th June and were transfered overland to Skardu on 26th to 27th. On 28th all of us were driven to trailhead in Askole. I must say I greatly dislike the drive as the road is by far the scariest I ever been on. However, we got there safely and started trekking on 29th!

The trek is brutal! It is complete wilderness from Askole onwards and it is hard! The trail’s not too good and all day it is extremely hot temperatures being well over 40C with no shade! But boy is this part of the World beautiful? I’ve been thinking about how I consider the European Alps as probably the most beautiful mountain range in the World but to be honest, I don’t know! I kinda had forgotten how stunning these peaks are? And we are still not even close to Concordia from where you have the most amazing mountain panorama!

Tomorrow on July 2nd we’ll continue to Urdukas. We heard that the most commonly used (shortest) trail is in very bad condition and thus we will very likely be taking a longer although safer route closer to Trangos. Tomorrow we get on the Baltoro glacier and will stay on it until back in Paiju after the climb!
Follow the trip through my Twitter and Instagram! Next blog-entry from K2 basecamp!