K2

Machine-read text (unproofread)

Read from the scans by software, so it contains mistakes. Typing it up properly would help blind readers: use Suggest an edit.

K2 Matt Comeskey "Work is for those with nothing better to do. Oscar Wilde stood on the summit of a shoulder where your face had been a back seat of a car. I was quite in the central second before. odds W. virgin peak split The of a depressed at this prospect when I Karakorams of Pakistan and looked serious accident are better than the stoppedattheletrbox. on my wayout east on a perfect day, our eyes drawn odds of winning a minor lotto prize. to the furniture ("Rope and Rock") to the huge mountain standing well Andyet, on a good day when you can shop. There was a letter from Holabove hundreds of lesser peaks. K2, see forever and your body willingly land, "Oh well.. "Ithought, "Might the second highest point on the carries you higher and higher in the as well open it now and burst the planet, poking its summit into thej jet company of friends, you feel like the bubble of wanderlust forever before I stream winds. I would not have believed that in two years the summit ofl K2 would be my goal. K2's unusual name is derived from a surveyor's reference, "K" referring to the Karakoram Range ofwhich iti is a part. Its local name is "Chogori" which simply means "The Big One". Viewed from space, K2 has an unusual diamond shape configuration of ridges that converge at its summit at 8,611 I metres, the approximate cruising level of passenger jets. The peak was first climbed by a large Italian expedition in 1954, using bottled oxygen that ran out on thes summit. Since then the mountain has gained a savage reputation with numerous deaths and near misses, atrocious weather, and K2, 8611 metres Matt Comeskey frustrated ambition. luckiest person alive. burden myselfwith furniture until I In 1992 thirty climbers summited on topple into my grave It read Everest, five summited on K2 (the It feels like a long time ago that I read "You are invited first to do SO since 1986 when 13 an unusual letter in the "Dominion" climbers died that season). At that asking for climbers interestedi in going Ihad to go back over that sentence a time Everest had been climbed by to K21 to write to a Dutch address. So dozen times before it seemed real. I more than 300 happy people, K2 by Iwrote, rating my chances ofactually had to think about this, but what was only 78 lucky-to-be-alive and happy going at about zero, considering all there to think about? K2, the chance people. Luck plays a large part: in the the other ambitious and vastly more of a lifetime! After a while, reality K2 game. We like to convince our- talentedclimbersthat wouldhaveread started to slap me around, "I don't selves that we are in control, that we the paper that day. At the time, life have any money, I'll have to give up can predict avalanches, weather was degenerating into a comfortable my job, I'm not good enough changes, and rock fall. However, K2 rut: andIwas considering buying some None of which had ever stopped me makes and attracts its own bad furniture, which IS like tying a rock before, but somehow this was differweather, avalanches start high on the around the neck to an itinerant type ent, this was K2, "The: Savage Mounslopes whereyou cantassessthesnow like me. tain". Itall seemed far too good tol be conditions. Altitude and cold play true, I carried on with my errand and their own tricks on humanju judgement, So this marked a turning point in my bought furniture that will hang forego can rage like a tyrant Luck will life, the point at which I would no ever around my neck likean: albatross send a rock whizzing over your longer be able to fit my life into the My life had changed!

Ati firstIdidn'tt tell anybody. The idea leather: shorts yodelling acrossi the val- it was still very cold. Mt McKinley of me going to K2 was hard for me to ley? Our climbingp plans weret thwarted lies on the outer edge of the Arctic believe, let alone convince anybody by bad weather SO we: all headed back Circle and is subject to very cold, else. So I quietly worked out on a toHolland where some of us returned prolonged storms. Springtime is reclimbing wall most days, raising my to work until May when we would all puted to be a time of cold, clear, pain threshold in anticipation of the depart for Pakistan. windless days, which we planned to worst, and spent hours reading everytake advantage of Out ofl 14 days, we thing I could find about K2. After a Ihad time to fill in solf flew to Canada had only four days on which we could while "The Savage Mountain" began to climb with Jeff and Tim on frozen move. The remainder of our time was to take on a more realistic scale: and: a waterfallsalongt thel Banff-Jasperhigh- spent digging out our tents and doing slightly friendlier face (in hindsight, way. Itwas impressivec climbing, very nothing. It was a learning experience, the saying "Familiarity Breeds Con- steep, exposed, and often close to the which begs the question - what had tempt" rings true). Slowly Iventured road hadn't experienced ice climb- we learnt? Come to Alaska in sumout of my shell and told family and ing as technically demanding as this mer! Mike and Alex went fishing, friends what I was Dave went to Monplanning. Nobody tana,andIwentl back laughed, which surto our below seaprised me. level flati in Holland In February I flew to I had two weeks to Holland scared silly kill before the K2 and still very ignorant expedition flew to about a lot of the Pakistan and I had who's, what's, and no money. Despite where'softhe expedibeing in the cradle of tionl but confident that Europe in spring, withp positivethinking, surroundedi by aeons a smile, and heaps of ofhistory and loodles grunt anything was ofculture, Ioptedfor possible. Iwas aware MTV, beer, and thatl I was taking a big pizza. Iwas in seririsk on such an ambious training mode tious project with Porters, Urdukas Matt Comeskey Thel best adviceIcan strangers, butmy first give to anybody goimpressions of the team were good. before and came away from Canada ing to Asia to climb mountains is get Jeff, Tim (Canadians), Mike (Aus- having learnt a lot. Later It travelled really fat! When you inevitably get tralian), and I shared a flat in the down to Seattle to meet Mike, and sick and the whole world falls out of Orwellian wasteland of a new Am- together we climbed Mt. Rainier on a yourbottom,you willy need every calosterdam suburb. Together we had a perfect daya andh hitched backto Seattle rie you have got. During this time, I good time sharing stories and ideas, after a four day trip. We snagged a did the rounds of sponsors' factories and we were all relieved to find that ride with two WWII veterans whol had and offices with Wim, our expedition none ofus hada a fanatical approach to fondmemories of"Down-Under". One leader. This was very pleasant and climbing, preferring thei instant grati- of them could sing every verse of presented plenty of opportunity to fication of German beer and friedi food Waltzing Matilda and they insistedon gobbler eupany food within arm's reach to exercise and training. When our hauling us kicking and screaming at the numerous lunches for our benreputations, fitness, and health were through every red-neck hicktown pub efit. A less pleasant and infinitely completely blown apart, wel headedto on the way home. It was a long stranger event was spending 24 hours the Swiss Alps, with the Dutch mem- journey! camped on top of a radio mast in bers of the expedition making up the Rotterdamasap publicitystunt. Thankwhole team of 12. Mike and I flew up to Anchorage, fully it had a lift because I couldn't Alaska and met David Humm and haul thet tub of goo I called al body any I wasn't impressed with the little of Alex McConnell, a friend of Mike's. further than the nearest fridge (I was Switzerland I saw. The mountains Together we drove to Talkeetna, a in superb condition for the forthcomwerel hidden behind a wall of cuckoo- small town which 1S the jumping off ing nigours of Asian travel). There clock houses, ski lifts, railway sta- point to Mt McKinley. It was still was a strong wind the whole time we tions, and hotels. Where was Heidi, spring and our plans to climb were stuck up there and I felt seasick clanking cow bells, and the men in McKinley were ambitious, given that for some of the time.

In the middle of the night a thunder- was later mugged and lost all his our camps and break thet trail. Not all storm rolled in and life became inter- documentation and the expedition ac- of the climbers were happy with this esting. The lift was shut down for the counts. Meanwhile, the equipment but agreed to try it. It would have night and our phone was ringing with was split into two, onel half accompa- saved a lot of energy ifi it had worked the ambient electricity being dis- nied us to base camp and the second but the porters lacked the leadership charged around us with frightening half stayed at the roadend being and experience for the job. When the frequency. Wesurvived by good luck minded by Walter, our cameraman, time came to reassess our progress, rather than good planning, and I de- until Tony returned with more: money Wim wouldn't allow the climbers to cided that K2 couldn't possibly be for the porterage. Walter waited 25 go in front and relegate the porters to worse. In fact, it wasn't! days, it wasn't a fun trip for him. a support role. It was immensely frustrating. At about this time, Tony A few days later we were assembled The rest of us enjoyed the trek, pass- and Walter arrived at base camp with at the airport ready news that despite to fly off to realise gettingmoremoney our dreams on K2. from Holland, the There was just the expedition was efsmall matter of payfectively bankrupt ingl US$7,0001 Oforthe with outstanding overweight baggage. bills and wages. I After delaying the felt that my trust plane for 2121 hours, had been abused. we finally shut-up, paid-up, and got go- I decided to leave ing. We arrived in thee expedition after Rawalpindi, Paki- I confirmed that I stanands spent 12hot wasntliableforany and sweaty days of the expedition waiting for the redebts. It wasa very mainder of our food hard decision to and equipment to armake; physically I rive by sea freight. felt very strong and We had nearly lost despite all the hope when the truck bullshit, there were carrying our gear ansome days I would Camp 1, Abruzzi Ridge, K2 Matt Comeskey nouncedi its arrivalat gladly live again. our hotel by knock- One ofthe best was ing over a gate post that had stood ing through some awesome mountain an epic climb to Camp 2, thel last part unmolested since the beginning ofthe scenery which provided plenty of on my knees, to find the tents had century. Bad "ju-ju" was dogging us. inspiration for the job ahead. After been completely shredded in ther wind. During our stay in Rawalpindi, there we had established ourselves at base I had been watching the sky all was a lot of discussion about expedi- camp, the climbing proceeded at a morning but the first of the bad tion finances. From my point ofview, good pace. Soon we had a high camp weather came onto the mountain nothing was resolved except that the at just under 7,000m (Camp 2). The with astonishing speed. The wind hit members were assured there was weather had provided enough oppor- like a freight train and blasted a wall enough money and the rest was a tunity for seven climbers from other of finei ice particles across the slopes matter of trust. Shortly afterwards expeditions to make the summit on that burnt any skin exposed to it. It Odette, our base camp manager, re- threes separate occasions. Allhadepic was hell with the lid off Iwas on my turned to Holland. When it came to retreats in terrible conditions, twodied own and had to retreat down the startingther nined dayt trektobasecamp, high on the mountain in separate mountain. The feeling of being it was revealed that we didn't have incidents, and three were severely relaxed.evenenjoying myself despite even half the amount of money we frostbitten A recurring theme in K2 the weather raging around me, was needed to pay our porters to carry our stories is that oftriumph followed by immensely satisfying. Days like that gear. tragedy, the Savage Mountain lived make it worthwhile. up to its reputation. One member, Tony our interpreter, I still want to climb K2. was sent back to Rawalpindi tos solicit Our strategy was to let our high altimore money from our sponsors. He tude porters go ahead of us to stock