DISPATCHES

Heilprin

Playing hide-and-seek among storm clouds, as it has most of the summer, K2 slipped behind a curtain of snow last week and ended the K2000 American North Ridge Expedition's last shot at the summit. Due to bad weather, our climbers have been able to spend fewer than 20 nights on the mountain during the past two months.

"I can't add up enough little places we could have done better that would have put us on the summit," said Mike Bearzi. "In the end we pushed it as well as we could."

"We basically felt the only way to make the summit was for the weather to improve rather than struggle up to Camp 3 in adverse conditions," Mike added.

Mike, along with Paul Teare, Shawn O'Fallon and Jay Sieger, was stopped in his tracks at Camp 2. Paul smelled an approaching storm and descended the same day. Jeff Rhoads, filming for National Geographic television, came down the next day while Ziggy Emme hoped for the best and climbed up to Camp 2.

Greg Ritchie, the other cameraman, also had gone up but only to retrieve gear. So Mike, Shawn, Jay, Greg and Ziggy, along with Japanese and Mexican-led expedition climbers hunkered down. Some of the climbers from the other expeditions had made it up to Camp 3 where they encountered fierce wind gusts and cold temperatures.

"Things are between nasty and really ugly," Shawn radioed to Ginger Russell at Advanced Base Camp shortly before heading back down. He also described winds up to perhaps 70 to 80mph, low visibility and lenticular clouds — ominous signs. "We're getting wind blasted pretty good. I'd be willing to bet that summit slope is really loaded."

While our team backed off the climb after two final nights at Camp 2, the Japanese stuck it out through dicey weather and reportedly succeeded in getting the rest of the fixed lines in place to Camp 4, or the Eagle's Nest.

Our expedition had gotten them to within a few hundred meters of that final camp, which is located nearly at 8000 meters.

Jay Sieger is remaining behind, joining forces with the Japanese, and Marty Schmidt, of the Mexican team, will also stay for another planned attempt on the summit during the last week of this month. If that fails, there may be one more try with some of the Tibetan or German climbers during the first part of September.

As our expedition takes stock of this summer, it is unavoidable to focus on the personality clashes and group tension. "This is not a team; this is an argument," Paul said.

But some, like Shawn, feel the mountain never gave us a chance, and others echo the sentiment.

"Even if we were the most cohesive group, we just couldn't have done it with what we were given to work with. The weather was the issue," said Wayne Wallace.

And the weather surrounding the 8616-meter massif that is the second tallest mountain in the world continues to be an issue.

In a snowstorm, we packed up our tents and ferried loads down to the Camel Dump. Ravens, or goraks, perched on top of scalloped seracs like gargoyles presiding over our departure. At the Camel Dump — poised on a hillside at the snout of the glacier — we got one last spectacular glimpse of K2, bowing in a final encore of alpenglow.

Then the camels met us on a ridge above camp, and we continued on down to Chinese Base Camp located next to the delta formed below Qogori Glacier's moraine and runoff.

Today we left in a driving rainstorm on our six-day camel trek padding back to the remote Chinese roadhead that leads toward Kashgar and on to the Karakoram Highway and Islamabad. It was a grueling day of dangerous river crossings, the brown current swelling to the camels' bellies and upper thighs.

Several of us fell off the camels as we were trying to get on or barely hung on like rodeo clowns, but none of us took a ride in the river. We were a bit rattled and worse for the wear, but all got through the cold day in good spirits. Our strong Pakistani porters crossed without riding camels — an impressive feat.

Now our minds and spirits are focusing on the spectacular desert and mountain scenery, and drifting toward our lives back home. Tonight we talked in the cook tent and shared a fire on the riverbank with the camel drivers.

And all are returning alive and in one piece. "It's not the end, but the beginning of another adventure," reflected Jeff Alzner, the expedition leader. "Time to start making new plans."

— John Heilprin, MountainZone.com Correspondent

Email this story to a friend