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2008 K2 and Broad Peak Expedition

Dispatch Twenty: June 18th, 2008

Day Twenty: Broad Peak Base Camp to K2 Base Camp; Stormy Weather

Today, Hughes and I woke up at 6:30am, packed up our things for the last time, had a quick breakfast and began the hour walk from broad Peak Base Camp to K2 Base Camp. The morning was cool and cloudy. We arrived at K2 Base Camp, having already prepared the porter tips the night before. Once all of the drums had arrived, I thanked all the porters for their hard work, announced the tip amount and gave the money to the Sirdar to distribute. The porters retreated quite quickly after clapping and chanting for a bit, and we were finally allowed to settle into our camp. After erecting our tents, I quickly got my solar array and battery up and charged my computer, phone, and ipod in the dim, cloudy afternoon light. We had a small lunch quite late in the afternoon (the kitchen staff was working hard to get their setup unpacked). Afterward, Hughes and I visited the Norit Expedition just below us. I quickly recognized Court Haegens from the 2006 Dutch GII Expedition and was introduced to the others. We chatted for a couple hours about the route conditions on both the Abruzzi and Cesan Routes (Hughes and I are still unsure which route we will attempt; but it was promising that the Dutch had established Camp III on the Cesan Route). Many of the other expeditions for K2 had yet to arrive. Right now, the only teams in Base Camp are as follows: The Norit K2 Expedition, The Serbian K2 Expedition, The Russian K2 Expedition, The Korean Flying Jump K2 Expedition, and the other part of our permit; the three French who are attempting a different route on K2 to ski down.