Nicholas Rice: Broad Peak Dispatch

2007 Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Forty-Eight: July 27th, 2007

Day Forty-Eight: Korofong to Askole and Jeeps to Skardu

Today, started down from Korofong to Askole, a mere two hour walk in the cool hours of the morning. Once we arrived, we waited around for the porters to arrive with our things, dealt the tips and explained why they had been reduced, and got on our way to Skardu in the Jeeps. We arrived in just over seven hours after quite a bumpy ride, and proceeded to check into the Mashabrum Hotel on College Road (the other side of town from where we had previously stayed; much closer to the Bazaar). Naiknam Karim (Skardu Managed, ATP) told us we would be departing for Islamabad at 6:00am the following day. To this, I quickly objected saying that we had had a mere two days rest at base camp after our summit push before the trek and having just arrived in Skardu, and considering that none of us had any reason to rush back to Islamabad (like an impending flight), it seemed silly to have us depart just twelve hours after our arrival in Skardu. Also, it seemed strange that we weren’t at least attempting to get on a flight, as this is much faster and safer. He agreed that we would spend an additional night in Skardu and I reiterated our desire to fly once more. After this, I went up to my room and immediately took a much needed shower (which turned out to be cold thanks to a hidden switch that turns on the water heater), and took apart my bags as I knew that the contents were wet and didn’t want them to mold. I washed my “city” clothing and went down and had dinner, which was quite similar to the food we had been eating in base camp. I returned to my room to continue my laundry and got to bed around midnight.