Don Bowie - All Dispatches

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BROAD PEAK WINTER 2008

THE GEOGRAPHY: Broad Peak is part of the Gasherbrum massif on the border of Pakistan-China. It is located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from K2. Broad Peak was originally named K3 right after the naming of K2 but on closer inspection by a later party, it was discovered that the summit was over 1½ kilometers (1 mile) long, thus "Broad Peak".

THE HISTORY: In spite of several attempts, none of Pakistan’s 8000ers have been summited in winter. On Broad Peak in Particular, Italian Simone Moro and Pakistani climbers Shaheen Baig and Qudrat Ali have been rejected by loads of snow, bitter cold and bad conditions for the past two years.

Dr. Robert Szymczak has been in expeditions to Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Pakistan. He is a medical doctor specializing in high altitude medicine. He is also a member of the International Society for Mountain Medicine. More...

2008 marks Don Bowie's 4th season climbing in the Himalayas, with previous expeditions to Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, K2, and the South Face/East Ridge of Annapurna in 2006 and 2008. More...

Artur Hajzer has summited five eight-thousanders: three of them via new routes. He also achieved the first winter climb on Annapurna. More...

Untagged	31 Dec 2008 12:00 AM
Pictures of ascent to Camp 1 by Webteam

Here are a few images of our ascent to Camp 1. The weather was clear and reasonable for climbing- let's hope it stays that way. (But we know it won't!) Next on the agenda, Camp 2....Obviously.

Click on picture to enlarge

Broad Peak Winter 2008	29 Dec 2008 12:00 AM
Camp 1: Phone dispatch from Don by Don Bowie

At 8:30 pm Pakistan time (8:30 am MST on Dec. 27) Don phoned to tell us that he, Artur, and Robert had reached Camp 1 on Broad Peak (approximately 5600+ meters). The team will be spending the night in Camp 1 and then, weather permitting, hoped to continue up the mountain to set ropes to Camp 2. "There is not much snow, but a lot of ice and rock." As they were settling in for a nights rest, Don said, "Our stomachs are full....of sauerkraut and kielbasa.... ....that's what one eats when climbing with Polish climbers. And, we are all in really good spirits."