Valandre Blog

17 August 2011 – International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

Brief Update 17 August 2011 :

Gerlinde, Ralf and the rest of the team are staying at Camp I (5,300m) for another night. Due to yesterday’s heavy snowfall and the potential avalanche danger that comes with it, the team decided to wait before ascending to Camp II (6,600m).

Today, a good amount of the fresh snow has already come down and the team is pretty confident that they will be able to climb to Camp II tomorrow. The weather forecast has not changed and still predicts dry and stable weather for the end of the week.

The itinerary for the summit attempt allows for an extra day on the mountain, which means that Sunday will remain their summit day. We will find out whether this plan will change or not in the next few days.

Warm Regards

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner’s and Ralf Dujmovits’ home team

© TEXT G.Kaltenbrunner/R.Dujmovits; TRANSLATION: Elke Luginsland

AMICAL alpin - Neuigkeiten

16 August 2011 – International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

Brief Update 16 August 2011 :

After a short break at the Chinese Base Camp, Gerlinde, Ralf and the rest of the team left for their summit bid this morning. At present they are aiming to go for the top on Sunday, 21st August.We wish them all the best and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Mountain-technology permitting, we will do our utmost to keep you updated in the coming days.

Warm regards

Gerlinde’s and Ralf’s home team

© TEXT G.Kaltenbrunner/R.Dujmovits; TRANSLATION: Elke Luginsland

AMICAL alpin - Neuigkeiten

6th Report – the International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2


the International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

6th Report – the International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

Dear Friends,

raining at the moment, as we write these lines, wet snow on our tent in the advanced base camp.
Tuesday night we are after eight very busy, very impressive days on the mountain come back here.

After looking at the end of July in the Chinese base camp had recovered well, we started on 2 August at Camp I on. A long, split at the end very rich ascent, where we asked ourselves how often we are likely to rise even through the rough glacier up. Good thing we had with the break-even waited a day. That day went by from the intense sunlight countless avalanches and the snow could sit well.

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8th August 2011 – International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

Brief Update 8th August 2011 :

After an exhausting ascent and a lot of fixing work, the K2 team spent two nights at around 8,000m, which was necessary due to the constant snowfall (about 30cm). They are currently trying to get back to Camp III and then to base camp, where they are planning to rest for a few days. We are expecting the next detailed newsletter by midweek.

Warm Regards

Gerlinde Ralf and the whole team

© TEXT G.Kaltenbrunner/R.Dujmovits; TRANSLATION: Elke Luginsland

Darek Zaluski in CII on the North Pillar of K2, testing the GOLD awarded Immelman jacket.

Camp II – Darek Zaluski (Poland)

Darek Zaluski in CII on the North Pillar of K2

Testing the GOLD awarded Immelman jacket.

5th Report – the International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2

5th Newsletter – International K2 North Pillar Expedition

5th Newsletter – International K2 North Pillar Expedition

When we were still on the mountain about a week ago, Charly had told us that we would have to deal with pretty bad weather for the coming days. With this in mind, we decided get some rest and breath some ‘thicker’ air at our Chinese Base Camp, which the locals call “Sughet Jungal”, at 3,850m. “Sughet Jungal” means virgin forest or jungle with bushes and that is exactly how we remembered it from our first few days of the expedition.

We had left our personal tents as well as the mess and kitchen tents pitched in the middle of these beautiful meadows, bushes and small creeks as we had expected to come back to recharge our batteries down there. After having spent more than four weeks at the rocky and barren Italy Base Camp at the edge of the K2 glacier, it was great to get down.

Continue reading “5th Report – the International K2 Expedition to the North Pillar of K2” »