Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Twenty-one: June 30th, 2007

Day Twenty-One: Rest Day; Iranian Climber Rescued From Camp II

Today, yet again I woke up in a wet tent with stormy weather outside. I called my father on my Satellite phone and discovered to my delight that my mother had made the summit of Mount Rainier in Washington State. I reconfirmed my so-far very accurate weather forecast predicting seven days of severe winds and intermittent snow systems throughout the seven day period. Afterwards, I had breakfast in the gloomy mess tent, where we were all surprised to see some sun begin to peak through the thick dark storm clouds. As the day progressed, the wind remained, but we were blessed with a much needed break from the gloom in the form of a sunny afternoon. After breakfast, I managed to double the output of my solar array and tripled the number of devices I could charge at once. After this, I was summoned by our liaison officer to come meet the rest of my group, the six member Spanish expedition led by renowned climber Carlos Soria, as well as the other two members from Colombia and Argentina (Fernando Gonzales-Rubio and Carlos Hernan Wilke, respectively). These additions made the group total 16 climbers and 8 trekkers (who would be leaving us in a few days). We returned to our base camp in time for lunch (sadly, Badia and Mauricio were absent as they had decided to venture up the moraine to K2 Base Camp) and afterward, pitched my North Face Mountain 25 tent to ensure that no parts were missing. Upon the arrival of my Mexican friends from their excursion to K2 Base Camp, we visited for awhile and had the Mexican Doctor, Fernando, take another look at my injured shoulder. Afterwards, he kindly and energetically prepared an authentic Mexican dish for our whole group and joined us for some drinks. Upon his departure, we resumed our mundane ritual dinner consisting of soup, plain rice, vegetables, and meat. After dinner, I remained and spoke with two liaison officers and Ali for a few hours and went to bed. PS. The Iranian Climber who had fallen from Camp II to Camp I got down all right. He had spent three nights at Camp III with no food due to the high winds and stormy conditions and when he finally attempted to descend, he fell from the precarious year-old fixed ropes and tumbled down towards camp I. Upon arrival in base camp, he made It clear that he had had enough, but we will see in a few days.