Karakoram Summer coverage 2018: K2 and Broad Peak summit, Drone rescue

Niels Jespers from Belgium reached the summit of Nanga Parbat on the same day, 9th July, 2018 (8:23am, Pakistan time), when Kim Migon, Lu Chung-han and Sanu Sherpa summited Nanga Parbat. Niels had done this without supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support, as reported by his supported agency. Six climbers of a Czech team reached the summit of Nanga Parbat on 20th July, 2018. Nepali woman climber Maya Sherpa returned back from Nanga Parbat, after abandoned the expedition.

K2 & Broad Peak:

1. Polish mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel is now at the Camp-4 (8000m) of K2 for his quest to make the first full ski descent from K2 today morning he plans to summit K2. His partner Janusz Gołąb remains at Camp-3.

2. 10 members Japanese team led by Akira Oyabe, aiming to summit K2, stayed at Camp-3. They are waiting for the summit push. "If the weather is good, the team will start moving for summit push today, according to their plan," they posted in their Facebook on 20th July.

3. International team of SST on K2, led by Chhang Dawa Sherpa from Nepal reached the summit of K2 in the morning 21st July, 2018. The summit team comprised 31 climbers, consists of 24 from SST/14Peak, 2 Pakistani (Fida Ali and Musa Ali) from GM and 5 from Summit Climb, as reported. The climbers were - 
Jianjonh Li (China)
Mingma Gyabu Sherpa (Nepal)
Chhiji Norbu Sherpa (Nepal)
Noel Hanna (Ireland)
Ms. Gangaamaa Badamgarav (Mongolia)
Sophie Lavaud (Switzerland)
Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa (Nepal)
Lhakpa Temba Sherpa (Nepal) 
Krishna Thapa Magar (Nepal) 
Pemba Thinduk Sherpa (Nepal)
Ngima Thenduk Sherpa (Nepal)
Muhammad Ali Sadpara (Pakistan)
Ms. Viridiana Alvarez Chavez (Mexico)- Elite Himalayan Adventures
Yoshiharu Nakamura (Japan)
Ngima Dorchi Sherpa (Nepal) 
Paul Hegge (Belgium)
Dawa Sangay Sherpa (Nepal)
Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa (Nepal)
Ms. Changjuan He (China)
Intesh (Pakistan)
Pastemba Sherpa (Nepal)
Mingma Tenjen Sherpa (Nepal)
Ms. Naoko Watanabe (Japan)
Furba Ongdi Sherpa (Nepal)
Plus 2 Sherpas of fixing team from GM also made ascent this morning.

4. International team led by American climber Garrett Madison, aiming to summit K2, reached at Camp-4 on 21st July, 2018 and expected to reach the top today morning.

5. Mingma G. Sherpa along with two sherpas left for Pakistan from Kathmandu for Broad Peak expedition on 9th July, 2018, arrived Camp-2 of Broad Peak on 20th July, 2018. They plan to climb Camp-3 and try summit on 22nd July.

6. Swedish climber Fredrik Sträng with his climber partner David Roeske from America, aiming for K2, summited Broad Peak on 16th July, 2018 at 10:30am (local time) without supplemental oxygen. It's time for K2 now. Fredrik posted in his Facebook profile yesterday, "This is it. We are pushing now for a 3 days intense summit push of K2 without supplemental O2. This is our only shot this season. I don't have time to guide you through the mathematical analysis of this decision but it's been some heavy duty days weighing the pros and cons. No update on Instagram till we are back but status update on."

7. International team led by British climber Daniel Mazur, aiming to summit K2 and Broad Peak, summited K2 on 21st July, 2018. As they reported, "All of our team members and Sherpas are on the summit at this moment!!"

8. Furtenbach Adventures team led by Austrian mountaineer Roli Striemitzer aiming to summit K2 and Broad Peak this summer. Lukas Furtenbach, Owner and founder of Furtenbach Adventures spoke to Dream Wanderlust with the available details. All the climbers are back to Camp-3 safely were -  
Roli Striemitzer (Austria) 
David Roeske (USA)
Fredrik Strang (Sweden)
Mark Mueller (Switzerland)
Afi Gigani (Georgia)
Mingma Sherpa 
Ram Nurbu Sherpa
Nima Sherpa 
Hassan 
Dilawar Hussain Adil

9. Spanish team led by Sergi Mingote, aiming to summit K2 and Broad Peak, Sergi Mingote reached the summit of Broad Peak on July 16, 2018.

10. British climber Rick Allen, who made his solo attempt on Broad Peak via a new route, feared missing and presumed dead on 9th July. On 10th July, Bartek Bargiel, the brother of Andrzej Bargiel launched a high-altitude DJI Mavic Pro drone to record Andrzej's ski descent from K2, spotted moving spot on Broad Peak. David Roeske and Fredrik Sträng, who were at Camp-3, went there to investigate the matter. There they found Rick, and with the help of later joined Tenji Sherpa from Summit Climb, they rescued the British climber.

Gasherbrum I, II & IV:

1. Hungarian climbers Dávid Klein and Szilárd Suhajda who are aiming for Gasherbrum I and II, reached up to Camp-3, are now at Base Camp.

2. Yannick Graziani, Hélias Millerioux and British woman climber Masha Gordon who are aiming to traverse Gasherbrum I and II without supplemental oxygen, tried Gasherbrum II summit on 19th July, 2018, but not succeeded.

3. Italian alpinist Hervé Barmasse and German climber David Göttler, aiming for Gasherbrum IV, via a new route without supplemental oxygen. They reached up to 7100m. On 19th July, 2018, Hervé posted on his Facebook, "Acclimatization finished. We slept at about 7100m after only 10 days. We have never been able to see the conditions of the path we want to open on the east wall. With The Spaniards we decided not to get bored and left to them 4 The Pillar And Ridge South West..."

4. Italian climber Giampaolo Corona reached the top of Gasherbrum I on 18th May, as reported in his Facebook profile.

5. German climbers Alix von Melle & Luis Stitzinger, who were on their expedition Urdok Kangri II in Karakoram, abandoned their expedition on 4th July, 2018. After that, Luis summited Gasherbrum I on 18th July, 2018 without supplemental oxygen, as reported by him in his Facebook profile. It was his 8th eight-thousander.

6. There is no recent updated on Basque-Catalan team lead by Oriol Baró with Marc Toralles, Roger Cararach and Iker Madoz, aiming for the South Pillar of Gasherbrum IV. In the last update, they returned to Base Camp after setting up Camp-1.

7. Ukrainian expedition on Gasherbrum I & II, who planned to summit Gasherbrum I via new route and Gasherbrum II via standard route, reached the summit of Gasherbrum II in alpine style, on 17th July, 2018, as reported by their Official Facebook page.

8. Polish climbers Adam Bielecki with German climber Felix Berg summited Gasherbrum II via West Face on 16th July, 2018 at about 5pm (local time) without supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support. After the summit, Adam posted in his Facebook, "After nearly 18 hours of climbing together with Felix we came back to C3. We managed to traverse the summit - we reached it by fragile and surprisingly difficult west face and went down the regular route. Unfortunately, Jacek turned back on 7500m and Borys used the regular route and turned back on 7800m. Best regards from C3. Tomorrow the base camp." Felix and Kazach Borys finished the expedition. Adam and Jacek are resting at Base Camp and planning to climb Gasherbrum VII, not Gasherbrum IV.

Photo Courtesy: Seven Summit Treks, Fredrik Sträng and Bartek Bargiel

This news was revised on 24-07-2018