Peak 6,890m, attempt. On September 3, 2007, Steve Su and I began
Peak 6,890m, attem pt. O n Septem ber 3, 2007, Steve Su an d I began a nine-w eek expedition to Pakistan’s H ispar region. We had a n u m b e r o f objectives, including P um ari C hhish (7,350m ). M ost expeditions gun n in g for 7,000m peaks tackle snow -covered terrain d u rin g sum m er, for
the longer days and higher over all tem peratures. T hus they u su ally leave by m id-A ugust. My idea, based on past experience, was to w ait for the trad itio n al late-season
w eather
window.
W hat I did not anticipate was the intense cold. After delays w ith B ritish Airways— a co m m o n com p lain t— costing us a week, we arrived in base cam p w ith su m m er-like co n d itio n s alm o st im m ediately giving way to fall. T em peratures were no longer w arm enough to m elt new snow fall, an d the m o u n ta in s were startin g to show th e ir w in ter coats. We h ad 20 o r so days o f on a n d o ff snow show ers before a significant w eather w indow arrived. D uring this tim e we attem p ted several u n clim bed 6,000m peaks, only to be driven off by avalanches and p o o r weather. Eventually we settled on Peak 6,890m , a m ajestic su m m it w ith a steep rocky so u th face crow ned w ith Peru-like snow flutings, guarded by h anging seracs, an d offering no easy route. We decided to throw ourselves at the route w ith five or six days o f supplies. We ended up spend ing six days clim bing 4,500′ o f very technical te rra in — hard m ixed, h ard rock clim bing, su s tained p o st-h o lin g , an d sections o f aid. We sp en t tw o nights in frigid o pen bivies. T he final evening o f clim bing saw us well below any possible bivy, and well above o u r past bivy site. This m eant the clim b was over. We couldn’t reclim b th e technical terrain w ith o u r lim ited supplies, and we still had an o th er 3500′ to the sum m it. W ith one can o f fuel and the tem p eratu re getting colder, we retreated on day seven, leaving alm ost every piece o f o u r hardw are for rappel anchors. We were greeted at base cam p by a very co n cern ed liaison officer an d cook, w ho were relieved to end w hat had becom e, in th eir w ords, “a w inter expedition.” P e t e T a k e d a , A AC
the longer days and higher over all tem peratures. T hus they u su ally leave by m id-A ugust. My idea, based on past experience, was to w ait for the trad itio n al late-season
w eather
window.
W hat I did not anticipate was the intense cold. After delays w ith B ritish Airways— a co m m o n com p lain t— costing us a week, we arrived in base cam p w ith su m m er-like co n d itio n s alm o st im m ediately giving way to fall. T em peratures were no longer w arm enough to m elt new snow fall, an d the m o u n ta in s were startin g to show th e ir w in ter coats. We h ad 20 o r so days o f on a n d o ff snow show ers before a significant w eather w indow arrived. D uring this tim e we attem p ted several u n clim bed 6,000m peaks, only to be driven off by avalanches and p o o r weather. Eventually we settled on Peak 6,890m , a m ajestic su m m it w ith a steep rocky so u th face crow ned w ith Peru-like snow flutings, guarded by h anging seracs, an d offering no easy route. We decided to throw ourselves at the route w ith five or six days o f supplies. We ended up spend ing six days clim bing 4,500′ o f very technical te rra in — hard m ixed, h ard rock clim bing, su s tained p o st-h o lin g , an d sections o f aid. We sp en t tw o nights in frigid o pen bivies. T he final evening o f clim bing saw us well below any possible bivy, and well above o u r past bivy site. This m eant the clim b was over. We couldn’t reclim b th e technical terrain w ith o u r lim ited supplies, and we still had an o th er 3500′ to the sum m it. W ith one can o f fuel and the tem p eratu re getting colder, we retreated on day seven, leaving alm ost every piece o f o u r hardw are for rappel anchors. We were greeted at base cam p by a very co n cern ed liaison officer an d cook, w ho were relieved to end w hat had becom e, in th eir w ords, “a w inter expedition.” P e t e T a k e d a , A AC
