ANDALUCIA K2 EXPEDITION 2004: Time is running out for Andalucía K2 on the impossible mountain

Andalucía, July 21, 2004

Time is running out for Andalucía K2 on the impossible mountain

They should go back to Andalucía on August 1st

The worst forecasts could even stop them from recovering the materials in the high altitude camps

From one day to another the intentions and moral of the members of Andalucía K2 expedition have completely changed.  Time is running out and the weather around the mountain, especially the wind, still keeps them from getting to higher altitude.  When you read on, you will notice how the feelings of the chief are changing in the journal pages of the expedition, which is sponsored by Consejería de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte of Junta de Andalucía through its public company Deporte Andaluz, received early this morning along with a picture of five of the members of the Andalucian expedition, shot yesterday at 'Casa Andalucía' Base Camp by Leonardo Bizarro, journalist of La Repubblica (Italy) in one of the few moments when the mountain can be seen between snowfall and snowfall and the cloud covered sky.

July 21, 2004

EVERYTHING IS READY TO GO TO THE SUMMIT, BUT... VERY LITTLE HOPE

I have just been told that the Japanese who left yesterday to install C4 have not been able to pass C2 because of the strong wind.  If the worst forecasts become true, we hope to climb to recover the material.  It is 10:45 and around 13:00 Kari Kobler will get another forecast, we hope...  Everybody's fine and with a low moral, but what can we do?  That's the way it is.

It is surprising how a situation of summit attempt on K2 can change. Yesterday was a sad day, very sad and how I wish that I can send new information tomorrow which is very different from this one.

Yesterday's plan was the following:  We plan to leave from BC on the 22, towards C2.  On the 23 to C3 and on 24 we will spend the night on C4.  The first two days we will have to fight against bad weather, to reach 8,000 on the first foreseeable stable day.  If K2 permits, we will touch the impossible summit on July 25.

At 15 hours, during an after lunch chat with our friends from Carlos Soria's group and after having eaten some excellent lentils fixed by Salazar, I went to confirm Kobler's weather forecast.  Disappointing!  The recession of the wind speed was not predicted until August.  This situation is so changing, that we still have some hope, but very little... but hope that a miracle can occur.

Javier Corripio is our weatherman and this year he is scoring all the way.  On the 19 he had given us information up to the 23rd, very accurate and he said he would not send any more forecasts until he had it all clear, because of the important instability he was seeing.  If we compare with last year, we should know that on the last days of July, everything is very strange: there are very cold days, today it snows on BC, it is a little clear by the afternoon, there will be wind tomorrow... very strange to our knowledge.  And we wait for Javier's forecast...

Our situation right now is strange and a little disappointing; we fear that this year we won't have the chance to try it.  And we have it all set, up to C4.  K2 is showing again who it is and why and why it has the history it has.  It's the great mountain.

Will I be able tomorrow or in a few hours to produce yesterday's chronicle with other dates?  For us it is almost over, we leave behind three years of our lives, and our sport lives, dedicated to try to get to the summit of the most difficult mountain, the prettiest, the hardest... K2.  Whatever it happens these days, we are decided to turn a beautiful page and to go back, above all to go back and we hope we can celebrate the summit with all of you.

LET'S HOPE ANDALUCIA GETS TO THE SUMMIT OF K2!

To have more time to get to K2's summit and to be back on time to Islamabad, to fly to our Andalucia, we could leave from BC to try the summit, on July 29 or 30 at the most.  On Wednesday August 11 at 20:55 we will be in Malaga.  But we will wait until the last chance to get up there is gone. 

ANDALUCIA K2

MANUEL GONZÁLEZ 

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

 

Altitech2: Digital Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Thermometer. Time/Date/Alarms. Chronograph with 24 hour working range. Timer with stop, repeat and up function. Rotating Bezel. Leveling bubble. Carabiner latch. E.L. 3 second backlight. Water resistant. 4" x 2-1/4" x 3/4" 2 oz. Requires 1 CR2032 battery. See more here.

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