Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Thirty-Two: July 11th, 2007

Day Thirty-Two: Climb from Base Camp to Camp II

Today, I woke up at 3:30am and gathered my things and had a brief chaotic breakfast with the Mexicans as we scurried to gather up our last minute items and secure our harnesses and our packs. We left base camp for Camp I at 4:30am. The morning was quite cool and perfectly clear. The base of the route was very dangerous with poorly fixed lines and rotten snow conditions. The route was vastly different than the one I had previously climbed. The fixed lines were better placed farther away from the rock face, thanks to the Austrians, reducing the risk of rock fall on the route. Badia climbed ahead with Ali, I followed with a moderate pace, and I was followed by Mauricio and Jorge. We arrived at Camp 0.5 at 6:00am, and had a brief bite to eat. We continued up the final slope to Camp I and arrived an hour later. I immediately went into my tent and took apart my backpack. Jorge yelled over that we were going to take an hour break and then depart for Camp II as everyone was feeling strong. I had my doubts about whether it was a good idea to climb to Camp II in the heat of the day, but nonetheless I packed up my things, amounting to a significantly heavier pack (about 30kg’s). We departed in the perfectly clear, scorching weather. I again took my time, taking breaks for water and food every hour. I arrived in Camp II three hours later with Badia, Mauricio, Jorge and Ali. We melted snow for water, unpacked our packs, organized our tents, and cooked dinner. We had an almost perfect day of weather, only slightly interrupted by winds up on the summit. Late in the afternoon, Felix came to say hi and told us that he was going down because of a severe headache that began soon after his arrival at Camp III. We were well aware that hoards of people were going for the summit tonight; however, we remained quite content with our plan when we received the weather forecast via sat phone, warning that the weather window was closing the following day and that strong winds, snow, and poor visibility were to follow. We went to sleep at 6:30pm as the sun began to retreat behind the enormous mountains of the Karakorum.