DISPATCHES

Ziel

Today finds the majority of K2000 members at Advanced Base Camp 1n our giant Mountain Hardwear "Space Station" tent taking a day off. You think Tuesday is an odd day not to work — well, we don't. We're not lazy. It's not because of any late-night party action, mind you. Nor is it due to the snowy weather today here at 16,200 feet. The fact that Paul went swimming this morning because he broke through the surface ice of a glacial pond has nothing to do with it at all. The plain truth is we are tired of humping loads.

Of all the things to grow tired of, humping! Of course, this is humping in the form of lugging loads of food and supplies up the entire length of the K2 glacier. The blasted thing is 24km long, the heat at midday is incredible, and the pack weighs in at 25-30kg or more. I've done the whole trip three times now (up and down) and enough is enough, already. Sure the scenery is great: mountains, glaciers, camel skeletons, surface glacier streams that swell into maneaters after lunch, and all that stuff. But how much beauty can a single person take? I felt the same way about commuting to work once upon a time, but the Ventura Freeway is still the Ventura Freeway. Commuting is a hump, too.

Another neat thing about Advanced Base Camp — besides being able to hang out in a big, "cool" tent — is we are actually close enough to K2 to go climbing (and, of course, hump loads up the mountain). The North Ridge is right out our back door. It's so close you can almost spit on it. However, it's so close it can spit right back at you. Yes, mom, there are avalanches on K2. They rumble a lot and make for great pictures, but, unlike IMAX, you can sometimes feel the edge of the hurricane attached to it.

Instead of humping, these last two days we've actually been climbing! Mike, Jay, Ziggy, and I found the route through to Camp 1 and managed to fix about 1000 meters of rope to secure the way. Ultimately, we punched through the left side of a large serac on the lower part of the ridge. Unfortunately, the mountain got the first punch in when we tried the right side of the serac. I can personally confirm Issac Newton had it right: Large quantities of ice and snow do indeed accelerate at 32 feet per second (in addition to making a lot of noise and starting Category 5 hurricanes). Those that follow this route in the future can look forward to steep snow and/or ice, punctuated with some steps of vertical ice. NB: go left, young man; no shit.

So, not suprisingly, we're back in Advanced Base Camp watching it snow and taking the day off because we are a little shaken (not stirred) and tired of climbing and fixing rope (and in need of a stiff drink). Besides some time off, what other tricks would the intrepid mountaineer use to unwind? The book and chess games didn't work — should I hump some more loads up to Advanced Base Camp?

Sometimes when I am at a loss for answers to these unending dilemmas in life, I try to think of what my guru would advise. Lauren, my 13-year-old daughter, part-time saint to homeless animals, and sage to South Pasadena's adolescent population, would ask: "You have a humping problem, Dad? Mom and I had a long talk about humping last week. She's an expert on humping; talk to her on your satellite phone if you have a problem."

Ah, the advantages of long Himalayan expeditions in the electronic age! "Mom" is indeed just a phone call away! I have a license to import and run "NERA," my satellite phone, in China. The state of California has granted me a license to...

Meanwhile at the Chinese Army garrison station back in Mazar...
"Captain, Captain. We are receiving those strange transmissions on 960 MHz again. What kind of code is it?"

"It's only those Americans on K2; they're back in Base Camp again."

— Fred Ziel, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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