Sep 27, 2007
The Outside Penguin Teaser
Aug 30, 2007
The Outside Penguin
New Route: The Outside Penguin (V: 5.10, A1) in the Latok Group,
The summer of 2007 of the Karakoram was unusually wet, thwarting most attempts at climbing. Backed by the AAC’s Lyman Spitzer Award and Mountain Equipment Co-op, our original objective was the unclimbed feature just under and southwest of Latok II (7108m; see below). We facetiously named this gargantuan gendarme “Latok II¾” (~6500m); its southwest face presents a 1500m wall of near-vertical, unclimbed granite. With all the bad weather, this normally rock climbable objective was shrouded in verglas and powder, rendering it too full on for the likes of us.
Ken Glover (
The face presented three steep headwalls; we hoped to weave our way up the wall via a devious line of weakness. After an initial broken section, we reached the base of the first headwall, framed on its right by a ridge crest. By traversing two pitches, we reached crest and followed it upward for a pitch before it stopped us at a blank overhang. A slab traverse rightward dropped us into a chimney, which we followed for three pitches to a sandy ledge atop the initial headwall. The second steep headwall loomed above. Searching for the line of weakness, we traversed for two pitches to the right again, where we climbed a ramp system before slipping behind a prow to find a hidden corner. Above the corner, moderate terrain led to a scree slope and a comfortable bivy. At each daunting wall, we had luckily found a moderate solution.
Seven hundred meters up the face, we hoped for a quick, sun-bathed dash for the summit on Day 2. Instead, threatening skies and false summits made for a more Blue-collar finish. After soloing up moderate terrain past the false summits, we reached the base of the third and final headwall. A long, broken pitch led to a steep cirque with no obvious line of weakness, where our streak of luck appeared to end. Straight up presented thin, vertical cracks; to the left stood a complex prow blocked by an overhanging wart of granite; the right was blocked by a crackless buttress and an overhanging rotten ice gully. Ken scouted the right options, launching into ledge-fall potential on an unprotectable face. He wisely retreated as the difficulty ramped up. Next, I tried the left prow. By stemming past an ice-chocked corner, I reached the base of the overhung wart, where our luck returned. A moderate ramp allowed us past the previously hidden side of the gendarme, beyond which the crux pitch gave way to the wart’s top. Ken then led two mixed pitches with our one pair of crampons to the summit, as snow began to fall.
We began a descent immediately by scoping our first option, a line that may have lead into easy descent gullies. The idea appeared to be far more involved than anticipated whilst scouting. Hence, we began rappelling our line of ascent; shortly thereafter, darkness and a powerful snowstorm descended upon us. At the first decent ledge, we endured a miserable, sleepless bivy as the storm raged on. On the third day, we continued our descent, again finding that any quick-and-easy descent ideas turned out to be complex and dangerous. Thus, we continued rapping and downclimbing our line of ascent. We reached the base that afternoon in the pouring rain, after some 800m of rapping, overjoyed for having made the most of what the weather gods permitted.
Aug 14, 2007
The Karakoram Highway (KKH)
Aug 11, 2007
Islamabad-bound
Aug 5, 2007
Expedition Draws to a Close
Last night, we arrived in Skardu (Pakistan's version of civilization) after a speedy retreat from basecamp. All team members are safe and happy and finally showered. What follows is a brief summary of our expedition.
July is usually the best month for climbing in the Karakoram but this year's July was, quite simply, horrible. We had 7 days of good weather to 19 days of poor weather. Latok II-3/4 was all snowed up and would not be feasible. After acclimatizing, we turned our attention to the northwest ridge of Latok II (7108m). The ridge involved a complex mixed or ice climb (two different ways up) to a col at 5900m followed by 12oom of average 45-degree snow and mixed narrow ridge crest, with some difficult, steeper rock steps. Jeremy decided to stay back as Ken, Sam, and Ryan made an attempt via the mixed approach. Sam took a 20-foot lead fall when his tools popped out of snow-ice. The sun came out strongly, and the altitude hit Ryan and Ken especially. With altititude symptoms, the boys retreated to ABC at midnight.
Upon returning to basecamp, the weather was holding so another attempt was considered. This time, Ken decided to stay back due to his altitude sickness low down. He would have needed more time than was available in order to acclimatize properly. Sam and Ryan thus made a second attempt, this time taking the ice approach to the col. They then spent 2 days at the col in blowing, snowing conditions before retreating in light of more on-coming weather.
Meanwhile, Ken and Jeremy approached a 1200m rocky south face of an unnamed, unclimbed peak. They climbed 20 pitches in total along with much simulclimbing and soloing. Over the course of 1.5 days, they reached the summit of what they dubbed "Karim Peak" after our legendary and eccentric guide named Little Karim. The planned descent turned out to not be feasible and so they retraced their way down the whole route, rappelling some 800m over the course of 1.5 days. Along the way, they were caught in a ferocious storm and spent an uncomfortable night huddled under a tarp as the snow flew. (In the end, Jeremy slept for a total of 1 hour on the the climb.) Now into the rain, Ken and Jeremy rappeled and rappeled, eventually reaching the base, cold, wet, but happy. They named their route "The Outside Penguin" (V: 5.10-, A1).
Upon returning to basecamp, we received another poor forecast from KiwiJay and so decided to retreat early. The glacier walk from basecamp had been grippy on the way up. After 3 weeks of near constant rain, it had been transformed into an ice rink making for a fast but exciting retreat. Yesterday, we walked/slid for about 30km before hopping in a jeep and bouncing along for 5 hours. We all enjoyed sleeping last night very much.
Next, we plan on staying in Skardu for 2 days before having a leisurely hiking tour of Little Karim's home, in the Hushe Valley. Including transport, it will be a 4-day journey.
Aug 2, 2007
Update from Base Camp: August 3rd 2007
SAM & RYAN RETURN TO BASE CAMP AFTER SPENDING 3 DAYS AT 5900M GETTING BLASTED BY SNOW AND WIND.
Light snow during the day. Cloudy skies during the night. Details... | High: 31 °F Low: 22 °F | SW at 2.5 mph | |
Cloudy skies in the morning, partly cloudy with a chance of sleet or snow showers during the day. Cloudy skies late at night. Details... | High: 36 °F Low: 21 °F | WNW at 3.7 mph | |
Cloudy skies in the morning, cloudy with light snow showers for the rest of the day. Details... | High: 38 °F Low: 25 °F | W at 2.5 mph | |
Snow. Details... | High: 34 °F Low: 28 °F | WSW at 1.2 mph | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 34 °F Low: 28 °F | WSW at 1.9 mph | |
Cloudy skies early in the morning, cloudy with light sleet or snow showers during the day. Cloudy skies during the night. Details... | High: 40 °F Low: 29 °F | WSW at 1.9 mph | |
Few morning clouds, light rain with clear spells during the day. Partly cloudy skies during the night. Details... | High: 46 °F Low: 28 °F | WSW at 4.3 mph |
Update from Base Camp: August 2nd 2007
KEN & JER SUMMIT! 3 DAYS, 1200M ROCK CLIMB. GOOD WEATHER ON THE WAY UP, HORRIBLE ON THE WAY DOWN. SAM & RYAN ARE STILL ON LATOK II. KEN & JER ARE PSYCHED.
Jul 30, 2007
Update from Base Camp: July 30th 2007
SAM & RYAN TO TRY LATOK II AGAIN. KEN & JER TO TRY 5500M ROCK CLIMB. WEATHER HOLDING STILL.
2:29 am GMT July 30th
CLOUDS ROLL IN OVERNIGHT. BOYS ABORT ATTEMPT 2, RETURN TO BASE CAMP AT DAWN.
12:47 pm GMT July 29th
BOYS RETREAT AT 5400M WITH ALTITUDE SICKNESS. PLAN TO TRY AGAIN TONIGHT VIA EASIER BUT LONGER APPROACH RAMP. CLEAR WEATHER HOLDING. JER STILL BORED IN BC.
Jul 29, 2007
Update from Base Camp: July 29th 2007
Posted by Jay Piggott
Date | Weather Description | Temp °C | |
Clear weather. Details... | High: 3 oC Low: -9 oC | NE at 20 km/h | |
Clear weather. Details... | High: 5 oC Low: -5 oC | NE at 20 km/h | |
Clear weather in the morning, partly cloudy skies for the rest of the day. Details... | High: 6 oC Low: -4 oC | NE at 19 km/h | |
Partly cloudy skies. Details... | High: 7 oC Low: -3 oC | NNE at 17 km/h | |
Few morning clouds, partly cloudy with a chance of sleet or snow showers during the day. Chance of snow during the night. Details... | High: 5 oC Low: -4 oC | WSW at 18 km/h | |
Cloudy skies early in the morning, snow for the rest of the day. Details... | High: 1 oC Low: -3 oC | WSW at 12 km/h | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 1 oC Low: -2 oC | W at 14 km/h |
Jul 26, 2007
Update from Base Camp: July 27th 2007
Posted by Jay Piggott
Update from Base Camp: July 27th 2007
Jul 25, 2007
Update from Base Camp: July 25th 2007
Posted by Jay Piggott
Date | Weather Description | Temp °C | |
Chance of snow. Details... | High: 2 oC Low: -6 oC | NE at 17 km/h | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 2 oC Low: -3 oC | WSW at 22 km/h | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 0 oC Low: -2 oC | WSW at 19 km/h | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 2 oC Low: -4 oC | NE at 24 km/h | |
Few clouds. Details... | High: 4 oC Low: -5 oC | NE at 21 km/h | |
Partly cloudy skies during the day. Chance of snow during the night. Details... | High: 6 oC Low: -4 oC | NE at 19 km/h | |
Light snow. Details... | High: 3 oC Low: -3 oC | NNE at 18 km/h |
Jul 23, 2007
Updates from Base Camp: July 18-24, 2007
Jul 24, 2007 5:30 PM
STILL RAINING,IN BC.4TH DAY IN A ROW.
Jul 22, 2007 6:48 PM
ACLM TO 5400M SUCCESFL. POOR WTHR RTRNS. MORE RECCYING REQD STILL. EYEING SVRL 5500-6000M AS 1ST OBJ.
Jul 19, 2007 11:53 PM
WTHR STILL PRFECT. K&J TO ACCLMTZ BEGINING 2MOROW.
Jul 18, 2007 4:31 PM
WEATHER CLR AND CALM. S & R TO ACCLMTZ, K&J REST IN BC. FLU SLOWLY IMPROVING.
Posted by Jay Piggott
Jul 16, 2007
Update from Base Camp: July 17th 2007
The Team has now reached base camp. Unsettled weather and frequent storms have covered the mountain and base camp in deep snow. It will take a number of days of clear weather for conditions on the mountain to stabilize, before an attempt on the proposed line can be safely considered. The team will spend this time doing reconnaissance on the mountain and training together. The Team is in good spirits, although Ken is recovering from a cold.
Posted by Jay Piggott
Jul 11, 2007
Into the Karakoram
May 18, 2007
Team Awarded American Alpine Club Award
Additionally, we have received word that we will be receiving help from MSR and Thermarest. We are tremendously grateful to the American Alpine Club and MSR/Thermarest for their support.
Apr 12, 2007
Little Karim Confirmed
Little Karim stands only 5'2" tall and might top 110 pounds after a large meal. But underneath that tiny physique is a powerful and spirited alpinist who even Messner says is one of the world's strongest climbers above 8,000 meters. -Mountainzone.com