K2 2004: Andalucia K2 Expedition

The members of the Andalucía K2 expedition, once in Islamabad, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, picked up the material sent by air cargo from Andalucía, and made some shopping, before leaving to Skardu, where they packed and weighed the drums that are uses to carry the load up to Base Camp.

Two days to cover 800 Km in the 20 hours of traveling that are needed to get to Skardu, following the Karakorum road, which is an spectacular work that joins China and Pakistan through the Karakorum.  The road is carved on the side of the mountains of the Indo river; it is continuously cut by falling rocks.  These days it has been cut during a week because of political turmoil.

The trip was done in two phases, the first Islamabad - Chilas in 12 hours and the second up to Skardu in 8 hours.  Skardu is the capital of Baltistan, a mountain region which is also known as little Tibet, because of orographic similarities.  The city is located on the Indo river in a zone bordering with Cashmere to the South and China to the North.  During these days the cargo is prepared, Pakistani personnel is hired to be at BC and porters are hired.  The massive affluence of trekking to the zone, as well as expeditions makes porters scarce. The increase of visitors is because of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of K2. 

The members of the expedition worked to be sure everything was prepared to start the last leg of the approach in all terrain vehicles, by the spectacular road which was finished in April 1991, which travels by the mountain sides over the Indo river and that in 8 hours will take them to Askole, the last inhabited village.  To start the approach to the mountain, we'll walk with a caravan of porters.   From Askole to Braldo river the gate of the Baltoro glacier is open, through which most of our trip is done. Javier Blázquez

The expedition is organized by Federación Andaluza de Montañismo, Club Alpino Ama Dablam (San Pedro Alcantara), Club Montañero Sierra del Pinar (Jerez de la Frontera) and Club de Aire Libre Treparriscos (Granada), and sponsored by Consejería de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte of Junta de Andalucía, through Deporte Andaluz, Ayuntamiento de Jerez, and also Tenencia de Alcaldía de San Pedro Alcantara and Delegaciones Municipales de Juventud y Deportes, Cultura y Turismo del Ayuntamiento de Marbella.

Dispatches

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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