Eloise Barbieri climbing the vertical ice wall between lower and upper Camp II

Depot Camp about half way between Base Camp and CI just above the ice fall.

Gasherbrum II Expedition Dispatches

Pakistan 2006 Expedition Update:

 

Success On Gasherbrum II

(July 24th, 2006) At approximately 4:30pm today, Nicholas Rice  summited the 13th highest mountain in the world, Gasherbrum II without the aid of supplemental oxygen or high altitude porters. Nick left Camp III on a very clear, cold night at 4:00am. A little over 12.5 hours later, he stood on the spectacular summit with views of Broad Peak, Masherbrum, K2, and the rest of the Karakorum range.

 

Expedition Introduction

(April, 2006) The Gasherbrum II 50^th Anniversary Solo Expedition is a go, with flights booked, deposit in with the Ministry of Tourism for the climbing permit and final preparations being tied up. This year, Nick Rice will be attempting to achieve the summit using the Southwest Ridge route (see photo with route and camps in the Photo Gallery). He will not be using any high altitude porters or bottled oxygen for this climb and will be climbing solo from Camp I onward. He will be sharing a climbing permit with 11 other climbers (appearing from the standpoint of the Ministry of Tourism as a 12 person American expedition led by Mike Farris) organized through ATP (Adventure Tours Pakistan). This company will also be providing all base camp services throughout the duration of the expedition including kitchen tent, dining tent, cook, and porters for the 8-day trek from Askole to Base Camp in addition to logistical support from Islamabad to Islamabad over a period of 55 days. Nick will be departing for Islamabad from Los Angeles on June 19^th, 2006 arriving on the 21^st. The expedition will depart Islamabad for Skardu; either by plane (a two hour flight) or if weather doesn’t cooperate, a 22-hour drive on the Karakoram Highway (beautiful but dangerous) on June 23^rd. After a quick stay in Skardu of no more than two days, the expedition will take the 7 hour off-road drive from Skardu to Askole (the last village en route to base camp). From Askole it’s an eight day walk to Gasherbrum Base Camp on the Baltoro Glacier with scenic views of Biaho Tower, Lonely Tower, the Trango Towers, K2, Gasherbrum IV, Broad Peak, Mitre Peak among numerous epic peaks. This expedition’s departure is considerably later than the one Nick was on last year, which could prove to be advantageous as the route through the icefall may be established by the time we reach base camp, however allows less time for acclimatization. Last year’s expedition (the US and Canada GI Expedition), in addition to 20 other expeditions was forced to turn around due to horrendous avalanche conditions. LOTS of soft snow on top of hardened ice (courtesy of the lovely sunny weather we enjoyed upon arrival at base camp). This website will have updated dispatches from base camp as well as photos from Nick’s past expeditions to Nepal, Tibet, Alaska and Pakistan. Feel free to send off an email if you have any suggestions or would like more information on this or any other expedition. Thank you for your interest!