Polish winter expedition to Gasherbrum I 2011/2012, part1.

Posted on January 15, 2012 by myhimalayas

Polish winter expedition to Gasherbrum I 2011/2012, part1.

Gasherbrum I (8,068 m a.s.l.), Hidden Peak or K5 – is the highest from the group of seven Gasherbrums. After K2, it is the second highest peak of Karakorum. The peak belongs to the group of four out of fourteen eight-thousanders that have not been conquered in winter yet.

Winter expedition starts! The expedition is going to operate from December 2011 to March 2012 and climb via classic route leads from the west side and in the upper parts goes through the so-called “Japanese Couloir”, situated in the highest part of the north-west face. This route is the aim of the expedition, whose main task is to ascend in winter for the first time in history the eleventh highest mountain in the world.

Polish winter expedition to Gasherbrum I 2011_2012 – route

Polish winter expedition to Gasherbrum I 8,068 m led by Artur Hajzer ,

Artur Hajzer

the team : Adam Bielecki, Agnieszka Bielecka, Janusz Gołąb.

We are preparing for the set off.

The expedition leaves from Poland at the end of December. We plan to set off towards the base camp from Skardu on approximately January 14 and then the first reports from Pakistan are going to appear on our blog.
Meanwhile, our preparations are coming to a close. Expedition’s cargo has already been sent and with the help of 70 porters it has reached the place of the future base camp on the Baltoro Glacier at 5,200 m a.s.l. We focus only on the training and direct preparations before the set off. We kindly invite you for the press conference in Warsaw on December 20 – information about the venue is going to be published in a separate announcement.

Preparations of the expedition in Pakistan are over.

Preparations of the expedition in Pakistan are over and at dawn on January 15 we are leaving Skardu in jeeps and going to Askole, from where on January 16 a caravan is going to set off towards the base camp. According to reports, conditions in the mountains on our caravan’s route are very good. There is no snow till Urdukas and fortunately the temperature does not fall below -10°C.

Reaching the Baltoro Glacier’s toe should take one or at most two days and then we are going to travel on the glacier for approximately five days (70 km).

The plan of reaching the base camp looks as follows:

January 16 – Jola (or Payu)
January 17 – Payu (or Urdukas)
January 18 – Urdukas (or Gore II)
January 19 – Gore II (or Concordia)
January 20 – Concordia (or Sharing or the Base Camp)
January 21 – Sharing (or the Base Camp)
January 22 – Deadline for reaching the Base Camp

KThe caravan is going to consist in Artur Hajzer, Janusz Gołąb, Adam Bielecki, Agnieszka Bielecka and approximately 20 porters; moreover, two of our high altitude porters are going to join it:

Ali Muhhamed Sadpara
Shaheen Baig from Shinshal.

Artur and Ali (our high altitude porter) in Skardu

On our way to the base camp we plan to join our forces with international expedition of Gerfried Goschl. We will try to provide current information concerning our progress.

More photos see on gallery!

Regards,

GI Team – 2011-12

Film report from Skardu, 01/14/2012.

Have a look at the relationship of film to Skardu.