While this headline is a bit dramatic, it is also quite common on K2. Of first priority, no one was hurt.
I had just received a message from British-American climber, Vanessa O’Brien this morning saying that there was a lot of snow on K2 then this came in from her expedition operator,Minga Gyalje Sherpa:
Big Avalanche in Abruzzi
This morning at 8:12am, we saw big avalanche coming from Abruzzi route. We feel all camp3 is swept away again. I am sure we have all our deposit near camp4 because our sherpa team made it on ice cliff but it is likely sure that all the fixed ropes are washed away. Tomorrow our Sherpa team will go up to check.
Every morning the weather is clear and it get clouded in evening. Weather forecast shows snow at 8000m every evening and very high wind at summit which delays our summit plan. Waiting for good weather to come
2013 Repeat
It was at this same location in 2013 that professional mountain guide Marty Schmidt and his son Denali were killed while sleeping in their tent at Camp 3 by an avalanche. All the other teams that year had descended fearing such an event.
2016 Repeat
Last year a similar avalanche stopped all efforts on all routes on K2. On 26 July 2016, Yuri with Kari Kobler posted (translated from Spanish by google):
We just received the news that today, July 23, there was a huge avalanche in the upper part of the k2. Fortunately there is no loss of life and the entire team of expedition, including Laura and Yuri, it’s okay. In these moments are found in the c2 to 6,700 meters in height. The flood swept away with the whole team for the attack on the summit that was in the c3: 45 bottles of oxygen, all the strings fixed and houses of campaign; in addition to all of the deposit that had already been done in the c4.
K2=Avalanche
These avalanches are quite common on K2 and are one of the primary reasons there are so few summits. Climbers work hard to establish camps, and in a blink of the eye they are erased from the slopes burying ropes, erasing tents, oxygen bottles, food and fuel. With nothing left, teams often have no choice. We’ll See what happens when the Sherpas go the scene tomorrow.
This is a video I took from K2 Base Camp in 2014:
Fingers crossed that Camp 3 is still there.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
