John Snorri’s team is on their summit push. They planned to top out on Monday, January 25, 2021, around 9 am. But are now holding at C3 according to their home team’s social media, however his GPS tracker suggests only C2. At least one person, Sajid Ali Sadpara is not using supplemental oxygen but is carrying a cylinder just in case.
Big Picture
The weather forecast remains mixed with winds under 20 mph and windchills between -50 to -60F, about as good as it gets for a winter K2 summit push. But as we can see with Snorri’s report, the real-word can be very different.
One of the issues with forecasts, both computer-generated or human curated is the altitude resolution. In other words, forecasting winds under 20 mph is a generalization for a specific altitude, or in truth, for an entire region. Specific, localized wind events occur in bands throughout the area, especially as you higher on the mountain so Base Camp and the summit can be calm but Camp 3 can see significantly different conditions.
That seems to be what we are seeing with the Snorri et al effort. Given the uncertainty, and already aggressive schedule, it will not surprise me to see them return to BC and try again in a more reliable widow.
The disparate weather could also be one of the reasons, as far as we know, there were no SST climbers who left Base Camp, however, some may slip away announced, that’s not uncommon for some climbers to talk about what they did, instead of what they planned.
Snorri – On Summit Push (previously posted)
John Snorri Sigurjonsson with Muhammad Ali Sadpara and his son Sajid Ali are leaving for a Monday summit. John sent me a message detailing their plans:
Plan for summit push at 2100 tonight from bc. If wind is not to strong we hope to reach summit 25th jan at 0900 in morning
Sajidalisadpara added:
K2 winter our summit try will start tonight from Base camp to camp 3 25 we will try for summit push I am going without oxygen if possible I take 1 oxy for safety pray for us
It appears they will try to get to C3 from BC in one push arriving on the 24th, taking a short rest then the summit on the morning of the 25 targeting 9 am. This is an extremely, extremely aggressive schedule. Given that at least Sajid will not using supplemental oxygen, it will be even more difficult. The one advantage they have is that some of the route is already fixed last Saturday’s summit team. You can follow their progress on their GPS tracker
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Seven Summits Treks – Climbing will continue with good weather
Seven Summits Trek’s has their team at base camp. By my count there are 18 members and about 20 Sherpas still left. Arnold Coster gave this brief update from BC on Suday:
After a week of bad weather, hiding in our tents, we all crawled out and enjoy the sun. This is only the 2nd days so far we are able to sit outside and enjoy the sunrays.
Manaslu – Back to Base Camp
Simone Moro, Alex Txikon, and Iñaki Alvarez are at Manaslu Base Camp. Tenji Sherpa and Vinayak Jaya Malla are also at Manaslu Base Camp ready to move higher when winds allow. Alex gave this update about holding at base for the winds:
Conversations at BC with Simone… There are good moments and other ones not, but let’s stay positive, let’s laugh. Waiting for the strong wind to calm down and the Manaslu to let us try.
Simone added:
Today I climbed from Samagaon up to here in 2 hours 23, I was really feeling great, we did well to go down and oxygenate. Today should be the day that the winds drop to 90 km/h and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow they will rise to 150 km/h. These are the winds at the summit, but proportionally they are here. These are crazy winds. Tomorrow I get up and if I see that there is a chance I would like to put on the high altitude suit and climb a little making 1350 m. of elevation gain. Going higher just can’t be done, we have to be patient. Stay tuned! Ciao to all.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
Resources:
- Share your opinion on the reader polls
- A 30-minute documentary of Alan’s 2014 K2 Summit
- Known GPS Trackers:
- The traditional K2 Camp locations are:
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- Base Camp: 17,500ft/5334m
- Advanced Base Camp: 18,650ft/5650m
- Camp 1: 19,965’/6050m
- Camp 2: 22,110’/6700m
- Camp 3: 23,760’/7200m
- Camp 4: 25,080’/7600m
- Summit: 28,251”/8611
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