#11 K7
Participants: Jimmy Chin, Brady Robinson and Conrad Anker
"The snow hissed as it slid down the outside of our portaledge fly...."
K7 Polartec Challenge Expedition
Conrad first saw K7 on a trip to the Charakusa Valley with Galen Rowell and Peter Croft during the summer of 98. The following summer, Brady and I also had an opportunity to scope the awesome granite flanks of K7. We had been struck by its beauty and form. We wanted to climb it then and there, but we didn't have a permit and it was off limits to climbing. K7's proximity to the Siachen Glacier and the ongoing war being fought between Pakistan and India had kept it off limits for over 15 years. The fact that K7 was closed to climbing made it all the more appealing. K7 was the forbidden fruit we longed to taste.
To climb K7, I figured the Indians and Pakistanis had to bury a couple hundred years of animosity, and make peace, or we would have to have a lot of luck on our side. Luck was on our side. During the fall of 2000, I received word that we had gotten a permit for K7. Soon afterwards, we also found out that we have been awarded a Polartec Challenge Grant. This
combination along with help from The North Face settled any doubts we had about going. Although Brady and I had done very little climbing with Conrad, the positive energy between us was strong and we happily teamed upto go after the peak of our dreams.
Since we had all been to Pakistan several times, the logistics and travel went smoothly. We stopped in Hushe, the final village on our way towards basecamp, to visit with the school children for a morning. This was Conrad's second visit and Brady and my third visit to the village and school. We were all excited to recognize faces and spend some time hanging out with the beautiful kids.
We arrived in basecamp on the 30th of May and began making preparations for our climb. The route we had chosen involved a bit of everything; snow, rock and ice. We would need to climb over 8000 vertical feet to gain the summit. Standing below the immense face was intimidating and inspiring.
Our plan was to take one ledge for the three of us. I was a bit skeptical. Conrad joked that if we were Russians, we would fit a team of eight in it. We decided to take one ledge. We would each have one haul bag to carry our gear and food and would carry eight days of rations.
We spent a few days at the base of the route to get a feel for conditions, taking careful note of when the snow moved, what parts were exposed to avalanche danger and basically how the mountain reacted to the different weather patterns. Finally, on the fifth day, we blasted off. We were blessed with four days of great weather and we were able to climb almost four thousand feet. The north face of K6 and several other awesome alpine faces filled our views. We were ecstatic.
On the evening of our fourth day the hammer came down and it began to snow. We set up our ledge and settled in, not knowing that this would be the end of good weather for the next two weeks.
The snow storm seemed to recirculate around us. The amphitheater we found so beautiful started to feel like a trap. The giant 9000 foot wall of K6 seemed to create its own oragraphic weather system. Unfortunately it was not a favorable weather system for climbing. The snow hissed as it slid down the outside of our portaledge fly. Conrad, Brady and I would lay motionless, staring at the carabiners, wet gloves, stove and other miscellaneous gear hanging in our little home away from home. We spent five days hunkered down
in our ledge.
We had a lot of time to think. For the first few days in the ledge, I think we were all content to be with good friends in such a wild place. But as the days wore on, we started getting restless. Cold hands, hunger, wet climbing conditions are all things that climbers learn to live with and some even thrive on, but boredom makes climbers freak.
We sat for days trying not to breach the inevitable topic of food. Eventually we break down and start fantasizing out loud about sushi and burgers. Typical amusement involved watching condensation develop into droplets, anticipating when they would fall and, at the last moment, tilting your head a bit before it could land in your eye. Welcome to the wonderful
world of extreme camping.
After five days, we couldn't take it any more and headed out in the snow. We climbed a few more pitches, but it became apparent that we were not going to make the upper 3000 feet of climbing. The meager rations and snow forced
our decision and we began our descent.
We spent the first day rappelling in full conditions. We were pinned down for another four days at a small col as we waited for safe conditions to move through exposed avalanche terrain. We still found enough energy to make a few grim jokes and keep each other smiling, but most of our time was spent doing the thousand mile stare. We finally returned to our ABC on the 16th day of our climb. We were a bit over cooked, but happy to be functioning on the horizontal plane again.
Although we didn't climb the peak, we were stoked that we'd developed a really cool and exciting new diet program. Not only do you lose weight, but you come off of it seeing everything through new eyes, appreciating your health and friendships, and enjoying all the little things in life.
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Thanks Polartec for helping put us through treatment!!!!
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