“Retreat: The Summit attack halted by the weather” reported Artur Hajzer on his website:

Artur continues to say that, “According to forecast from Meteo Institute till March 21 2009, which is end of the winter, there won't be the weather allowing attacking Broad Peak Summit. There will be heavy wind blowing up to 100 km per hour on summit level. Not having much of a choice, in the situation,  HiMountain Expedition decided to terminate the siege and to terminate the operation. Camp and base liquidation has started.”

”8.000 m Karakorum summits remain still unreachable during winter. Climbers have been trying at least for 20 years. Will anyone success in the future?”

Don's Webteam: Don is in base camp at the moment. He will send out a dispatch soon.

For those of you who receive our dispatch announcements via email, we once again apologize for sending out some of Don's old dispatches along with Don's first dispatch from Broad Peak.  We thought the problem with our automated system, Feedburner, was fixed, but apparently not.  Therefore, we have dismantled it and will be sending out future dispatches with a new system. Watch for Don's latest dispatch coming up soon!

Many people have recently contacted me with inquiries about the food and gear I use on expeditions, with questions like; “What is your sleeping bag rated at?”, and “What do you eat up there?”, and “How do you guys take a …?” (You get it.)

In truth, expeditions to big mountains like K2 are gear intensive, but so are many weekend adventures here in North America. Combine that with the mountaineer’s propensity to curate gear like the Vatican does artifact, and closets like mine turn into a veritable junk show.

 

 

When considering gear, equipment, and the staples of any climbing endeavor, caution must be observed to not let our “things” replace our “abilities”, elevating confidence by what we have, rather than who we are. Smart marketing campaigns often prey upon this tendency, promulgating that if we simply purchase the latest gadget or gnaw the latest lockjaw energy bar, we can conquer anything. Even the crisp, wilderness air cannot escape the flatulence of consumerism.

However, having pardoned ourselves from the aforementioned al fresco faux pas, mountaineering and climbing are genuinely safer and easier due to advances in food and gear technology. When correctly matched with our limitations, these advances unquestionably extend the limits of what is possible. I couldn’t imagine wearing wool knickers and pith helmets like Mallory and Irvine did on Everest, or to sleep in a 10 pound felt sleeping bag like Buhl on Nanga Parbat. (Although, The Duke of Abruzzi’s four-poster wooden bed does sounds comfy cool.)

Over the next few months I will periodically post gear reviews for things like mountain food, down products, tents, and technical equipment, pillaged from my own personal gear stash. Ergo, I introduce the Gear/Nutrition page on my website, in full knowledge that anyone who knows me knows that the word “nutrition” and myself rarely collide in the same sentence. Nonetheless, I now share with you the stuff I like to use, why I use it, and where to get it. Alas, welcome to my own personal junk show: Gear Reviews

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Purchase Annapurna 2008 Expedittion shirts here.