Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Twenty-Seven: July 6th, 2007

Day Twenty-Seven: Climb to Camp II; High Winds and Heavy Snowfall

Today, I woke up at 5:00am to a very stormy Camp I. I wondered how wise it would be to make the carry and sleep at Camp II, however, my shoulder injury had allowed me to fall behind on my acclimatization schedule, and therefore, I felt it necessary to continue despite the bad weather. As I was putting the final few items into my bag, Badia and Mauricio arrived from Camp II and we chatted for a bit. They said that it was quite windy and there was quite a bit of snow at camp II, however, it wasn’t all that bad, and it took a maximum of four hours to reach. I bid them farewell, and headed up. Carlos and Felix offered me their radio so I could stay in contact with base camp. I accepted. I was one of maybe four people heading up, while over 80 people headed down to base camp. I continued to question my decision, however, I knew that unstable weather was one of the challenges that Pakistan presents climbers in the Karakorum. I arrived in Camp II in three hours and fifteen minutes after considerable effort kicking steps from the normal camp II to the location of our tents. The weather was horrible when I arrived into camp. The winds were blowing a huge cloud of snow hundreds of meters off the slopes above, and the new-fallen snow was being blown horizontally. I took refuge in my tent, melted some snow for water, made myself lunch, and read for awhile. I made contact with base camp, as requested, at 12:00, 3:00, and 6:00 and reported on the relatively uneventful few hours between call times. After my last radio call, I cooked dinner, and attempted to fall asleep. I was unsuccessful, preoccupied with the strength of the tents, the continued snowfall, and my plans for the following day.