On Tuesday evening an expedition of Polish mountaineers reached the summit of the Broad Peak, 8.047m, making its first ever winter ascent. Then, things took a dramatic turn for the worse, while two of them reached the safety of Camp 4 at 7400m, others two were forced to make a terrific bivouac at 7900m, since that time it has been lost any contact with them. I report the comment by Simone Moro, who reached three 8.000 in winter time.
Polish base camp at Broad Peak (Photo polskihimalaizmzimowy.pl)
“Climbing an 8000er in winter is still one of those inexplicable impulses which makes man spring to action, that lead him to voluntarily free himself from everything else, even of primary safety and time, to realise a dream which renders him so damn alive, excited, a complete protagonist of his own existance. Winter mountaineering on the highest mountains in the world is and always will be nothing more than dictated bya free choice, far more inconvenient than one might think. Where even if there are a dozen others you are still alone, where you are far away from everyone and everything else even if you possess all the satellite telephones the world has to offer, where you are helpless regardless of the most sophisticated technology and equipment. No one can do anything, absolutely nothing in winter and good weather makes its appearance twice, maybe three times during the entire season. A handful of days in three months, during which one is a prisoner, by choice, of one’s dreams. It is as if you are locked in a stormy sea, with 30-metre high waves, right in the middle of the ocean. No one can do anything for you and only you can deal with the weight and the dynamics of your decision, the one which brought you there. Every decision you make is yours, yours only…
Man wants to be where his thoughts drive him. On the moon, Mars, Venus, in the oceans, caves, abysses, deserts and mountains. This is what winter mountaineering is all about. The desire to be and go where man has not yet succeeded, and it is because of this that one day Nanga Parbat and K2 will also be attempted, and climbed, in winter. This is no inner drive motivated by dynamics of convenience, of usefullness, of danger levels. No one wants or believes the world can be changed by climbing in winter. Just like those who at first did not think they would, but then in reality actually did, change the world.” (From http://www.planetmountain.com/)
0 Responses to “Broad Peak: hope lost for the two polish alpinists”