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Mainpeak Newsletter
Mark Sheen K2 Expedition Update Log
15 July 2008
Hey Everyone, here is another dispatch of info for the last few days. The picture I have sent is of just below C3. Anyhow:
Rouland and I left BC on the 11th by ourselves as Court went the morning before but had to return because of sore legs. He has decided that the
expedition is over unfortunately. So at 4am on the 11th we were off. I was feeling good except for a concerning sore lip. We got to the start of
our route and geared up. I broke trail and arrived at the 'dog leg' the start of our fixed ropes to collect Courts' deposited group gear he left
the day before. I collected the 2 cans of gas and 100m (already had 100m) of rope Court left and proceeded upwards. Again I had a good load of 5
cans of gas, rope, food and some other minor equipment.
Our objective, now for the two of us was to cut 300m of light rope so it could be used for higher up and replace it with the 300m of heavier rope
on the way down. I proceeded upwards breaking trail until I got close to the col below C1 where we would cut the 300m of rope. After a while Rouland
arrived and we proceeded to collect the rope, with Rouland doing an excellent job of coilling the rope whilst we were perched on a 45 degree rock/ice
slope. After this we proceeded with our loads to C2 finally, after breaking train and pulling out ropes I arrived at 2pm sharp. After eating well
and hydrating straight away (always melting snow as first priority), I relaxed for the next day.
My lip was starting to get sore but at about 8pm and after eating some salami sticks I started to get some tummy rumbles, and needed to go to the
precarious toilet several times. By the next morning at 7am I geared up and starting to move I went about 50m above c2 to find i had absolutely no
energy, and also with a sore lip - despite my good apetite the day before. I decided to turn around and rest at C2. Rouland decided he would
continue to C3 if possible alone on some technical, but safe terrain. I arrived back at C2 only 10 minutes later with no energy, still some tummy
rumbles and feeling a little sick, with a very sore lip! After lying there for a few hours I was still feeling lethargic but slowly my energy
returned. However this put an increasing focus on my sore lip.
At about 10.30 a solo Austrian climber arrived at C2 so we had a little chat. I told him about my plans of going down in the morning and if he
would mind giving me a hand fixing the ropes below C1, which we had cut the day before (expecting the weather to go as forcast as being unstable).
After hardly being able to eat (had one cookie) solely because my lip was so sore (by this stage I was taking painkillers) and drinking hard
but absolutely neccessary at this altitude of 6300m I rested for the next mornings decent. After waking up every hour of two with my lip and then
having some more painkillers, finally it was morning and I looked outside to see what looked like a good day! The Austrian woke in the nearby tent
and at about 6am I asked if maybe we should go up for a look.
Despite my lip and lack of food (although I was importantly well hydrated) I felt well energised. We decided to go up, I carried some gas and clothing
in case I felt I would go to C3. We left and after half an hour I knew I was making some good progress. After an hour and quarter I was already at the
bottom of snow slope. I had caught up with the Austrain climber who left half an hour before with no pack, and he decided to turn around after his look
see. I continued and an hour later was at the top of the snow slope when I saw Rouland coming down. I went to the next anchor point and knew that the
weather was turning and suspected the news of more bad weather to come. I put some snow stakes I had also collected on the way up from C2 to the
anchor point and then met Rouland. It took him 9 hours the day before to reach C3 - excellent effort and he carried the rope we had collected below C1.
I was feeling very good energy wise, but my lip was sore and he had a report by radio that the weather was turning bad there was no point going
the remaining 100m vertical to C3. Already the winds has picked up and were at C3. So we decended to C2, collected Courts' gear he had left and
some rubbish and decended to BC. Kindly the Austrian had fixed ropes (he also needed to use) so this made our decent easier. We arrived at BC at 4:30pm.
Me with good energy but with a sore lip. I immediately saw the American Doctor Eric and he gave me some very strong pain killers and some Antibiotics.
It was a good decision to not stay at C3 by myslelf as the next day the weather was howling and decent would have been terrible, and also my lip would
surely have been very painful. Such is the way it goes in the mountains! At least the two of us got some good work done for the team and I also managed
to get some great high def footage with my camera of above C2, the traverse between C2 and 3, and the snow slope just below C3 on our Cessen route.
Right now the team is waiting out bad weather... Potentailly for 10 days! My lip is still swollen and sore but I still have good energy and my other
main concern is when I can go up, as unfortunately there is not enough room for myself and Rouland to go up in the first push because of tent spaces!
We will see over the next few days.
Thanks for following!
Mark Sheen.
9 July 2008
News is that a group of three will again go up to try and get higher in final preparations for a summit push.
Again it was snowing too heavily for the first member to go up this morning, which means it will be another day
waiting. I am hoping to leave on Friday now and go directly to Camp 2, and then hopefully again to Camp 3 and
beyond a little. We have fixed ropes about 200m vertically below the shoulder.
It is unfortunate to not be able to go with the team following us and hopefully to the summit, but we have an
issue with tent spaces. For me to be able to go up with them I would have to carry a tent to every camp,
along with another stove, sleeping bag, etc. So while I have seriously thought about the idea (as I am
acclimatised to C3 so potentially ready for a final push) this would make it very hard to be carrying this amount of
gear from C3 to the shoulder.
This part of the mountain is extremely hard work with hardly any gear, as
discovered by our team of 5 strong climbers last week. So anyhow, we will hopefully be able to go up in the next
two days and then see how we go. On the way we will also replace some lighter ropes with heavier ones so
the rest of the team can use them higher up.
Bye for now,
Mark.
7 July 2008
Hey Mainpeak,
The rest of the team is down and now we are just awaiting some wind and snow for the next weather window. A few of us will probably go up in the
morning (have to see what things look like) and change some ropes so that the team can use these better and lighter ropes higher on the mountain later.
Thats it for now,
Mark.
5 July 2008
Hi Everyone,
After our hard ascent on 1 July to C2 in storm and deep snow we arrived to C2 with intention of C3 and beyond. Unfortunately, next day out
of the 3 of us, one had sore calves, and just as I was preparing to go up 5 minutes away the other had been gassed in his tent and was semi concious!
With an emergency on our hands and no radio contact till hours later with the rest of the team coming up one went down to inform the others.
Meanwhile I looked after the gassed man who was slowly coming to and when the others reached C2 it was decided he needed to be accompanied so
this person was me. After a slow and careful decent with the man we arrived in BC with him feeling tired. Now in BC after a few days
(July 5 today) the rest of the team made a strong effort to get past C3 with 5 members so who knows how much chance we would have got
past C3 with just two of us! Now they are coming down tired and we will see after the next few days what plans will develop with considerartion
to weather.
Thats all for now,
Mark.
4 July 2008
Mark is now (Friday 4th July) back at K2 base camp. He was the strongest out of the 2 teams so broke trail to Camp 2 in rough weather.
Things were going well. However in the morning he was feeling strong, ready to push on, but 2 of his team mates (as the expedition was
divided into two teams), were not feeling well. One of them was semi conscious. They were in Marks’s team so Mark had to assist them
down while the other team moved on to Camp 3 where they are now waiting and are going to go higher. Mark said that the other team wants
him to join them. So Mark is currently hanging out there at base camp but cannot go up to Camp 2 then onto Camp 3 all by himself.
He is waiting. He feels strong. “It’s not over yet. Waiting for the other team to see what they do”.
29 June 2008
Hey Mainpeak!
After waiting in BC since June 13 because of bad weather, finally on June 25th I set up the mountain
with Ger, Pemba, Court with the goal of getting loads of rope and down suits to C3 and then setting
the route past Camp 3, and hopefully to the shoulder. On the 25th we all made it to Camp 2 in hot
conditions. The day after that Ger, Pemba and myself left C2 at about 6200m, went up past the traverse
just above C2 and on to the snow slope. We then proceeded to a narrow ridge before rounding a rocky
butress and finally along another snow slope to the exposed C3 at over 7000m.
Spindrift and strong winds awaited us once we were on the narrow ridge and all the way above. The three
of us arrived in strong winds at C3 whilst also meeting Wilco, Cas and Gelle who had established C3 the
day before. Wilco and Gelle then went down whilst Pemba and Cas decided to fix 300m of rope in strong
winds of spindrift. Together with Ger we immediatly started to make a snow ledge for another tent only
to find later that the tent poles were not with the tent. As Cas returned with Pemba after their amazing
fixing effort in harsh conditions and Cas decided to stay another night this meant four of us to one tent
since we couldnt set up the other tent.
Whilst the plan was to fix as high as possible the next day it turned out to be a bad weather night at C3
of strong winds and spindrift, meant to be for late the next day. Unfortunately, it was clear in the morning
(after a miserable night with the four of us rolling around) so we needed to leave immediately to avoid being
caught in the storm with lowering clouds coming down. The first person left at 5am and I was the last to leave
at 5.15am (we all can't put on crampons and get ready at the same time in such confined space and howling winds).
I cautiously proceeded down the fixed lines along the windy and exposed ridge, down the snow slope and the
along the traverse to C2. It was decided by Ger and Pemba (very experienced climbers indeed) to stay there
for acclimatisation purposes, so I decided to also stay.
The weather forcast was for windy and snowy conditions to come slowly down the mountain for the next day with
light snow perhaps in the evening. This was not to be as instead they came that afternoon in faily heavy falls.
Again we were forced to retreat very early in the morning at 4am. The first few hundred meters was small
avalanche prone so we wrapped or rappelled quickly down this section to then proceed along the traverse with
caution and then down some steep slopes to C1. Here we made our own way through light snow (but warm
conditions) to the start of our route and then finally a 40 minute walk to BC.
So all in all, an amazing, sometimes 'interesting' experience for our team and certainly myself on this mountain K2.
Today (the 29th) Ger and I walked to Broad Peak BC to try and see if an American Team had some special 5mm Kevlar
rope which we could use to fix high on our route. There is potentially some good weather coming over the next
few days so our team might go up and try and fix the route to C4 and potentially go higher. I will see how I
feel and perhaps I might join this team and will have to further update on this.
Attached is a photo of climbers decending just below C3. Thanks for following,
Mark.
22 June 2008
Hey Everyone,
Still here at BC waiting for snow conditions to improove on the
mountain. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day, half of us will go up to C2
then fix towards C3. Then the next team will try to carry loads to C3 and
hopefully... beyond. We will have to see the conditions on the mountain
of course. It is much different trip on a commercial trip to everest where
fixing is done and all we did was carry our own prsonal gear up the
mountain, so this is a good experience. We're the porters on our expedition.
It is also interesting seeing and meeting other expeditions and their styles
such as the South Koreans and their very large expedition compared with
'solo' people who ask if they can use ropes and follow teams. Yesterday half
our team, including myself paid a visit to the Gilkey memorial (which I last
visited in 2006). This is a very special place and also very sobering
but was well worth our team paying its respects. Some members had been there
before in past expeditions to pay their respects.
This is all for now and thanks for following,
Mark Sheen.
17 June 2008
Hi, Wilco, Cas, Gelle and Rouland are on there way down this morning from Camp 2 since the weather has turned windy. This will delay my
departure, scheduled this morning early to Camp 2 and then Camp 3. We will wait and see what happens over today and tomorrow.
Last night when this was decided our group of Ger, Pemba, Court and myself went to a lone Serbian (who's only partner became sick on the
walk in and has now left him) by the name of Hoza' and over some nice tea listened to some interesting stories from his part of
the world - way different than ours in Perth.
This is all for the moment,
Mark.
16 June 2008
Hey there Mainpeak readers!
Things are good here at BC since I was last on the mountian. Contrary to
some reports from very bad interpretation I came down the mountain
myself and with no help all the way to BC albiet with low energy from being
sick once in the morning at Camp 2. But these things happen.
With some first signs of low cloud on the mountain since we have been here today (16th)
Ger, Pember, Court and I plan to go up 2morrow early to Camp 2 for a
night and then Camp 3 the next day and possibly see if we can go higher.
Wilco, Gelle, Cas and Rouland went up today to C2 then C3 tomorrow to set camp
and then back down the next day.
Our group leaving tomorrow should be back either Friday or saturday and
hopefully we should get some great pictures higher up which I can post.
Thanks for reading,
Mark Sheen.
13 June 2008
Hi there Mainpeak!
Today 13 June I am writing from K2 BC. I arrived back down from Camp 2 at about 6250m which we directly ascended from BC on Wednesday 11th.
The ascent was OK but slow with a heavy load of personal and team gear (this is a private expedition so we have we all have to contribute).
After Camp 1, which I am used to after being there 4 times, the route becomes more mixed with special attention required for the traverse.
It was great to finally reach Camp 2 with Wilco, Gelle and Rouland. It was also even better that I didn't have any close calls with UFO's
(or rocks which you only know about when they pass!) like the last time. I always wear, as does everyone else my Black Diamond helmet which
is good gear.
Camp 2 is a fairly precarious camp but it was good to settle into the warmth and out of the cold wind and have some soup and tea. After eating a
freeze dried meal and trying to sleep on fairly uneven snow and a ridgerest mat I did not have a good night. Eventually in the morning, without any
real sleep I was was sick, perhaps due to the food and the altitude but still our group decended so that the second group could ascend and fix
ropes towards Camp 3. After leaving Camp 2 at 7.15am I slowly and carefully with hardly any energy and about 50 long abseils and a few traverses
made it down to BC at about 11.30am. Over the next few days we plan to rest and see how the weather holds before we plan to go up and try and
get to Camp 3 which will be a long way from Camp 2.
Thats all for now,
Mark.
9 June 2008
Yesterday on 8th June Ger, Pemba, Court and myself went up the mountain
leaving Base Camp at 4am. Ger and Pemba went ahead to fix ropes half way
between Camp 1 all the way to Camp 2 at about 6400m and just past. Court and I
removed the first 400m on our route of fixed 5mm rope so that it could
be used higher up. After removing the rope Court and I proceeded to Camp 1
making steady progress up the steep and soft snow slopes.
Once I reached Camp 1 which I then unloaded a tent and some pickets and proceeded
towards Camp 2 to have a look. After a steep snowslope, some mixed ice and rocks
for a few hundred meters I then began the traverse which was very 'airy' to
say the least. I went approximately half way along this fixed part before
deciding at noon that this was a good point to turn around, especially
being by myself on this section at over 6000m and with unfortunately a falling
rock narrowly missing me perhaps from Ger and Pemba a few hundred meters
above fixing near Camp 2.
I decended slowly but very carefully until arriving back at BC at 3.15pm with
energy levels still good. The next 2 days I will rest and then try to make
it to Camp 2 direct for a sleep all things permitting. So far the equipment
provided by Mainpeak has been very good so a big thanks! And also thanks for following.
Mark Sheen
June 3 2008
Mark Sheen wrote to us from K2 Base Camp on June 3rd, as he prepares to commence his expedition to the summit of K2.
Dear Mainpeak!
Mark Sheen here. Personal dispatch from K2 Base Camp for Mainpeak!
All is well here at 5010m at K2 BC on June 1st after we arrived on the 29th of May. I personally arrived unwell because of something I might
have eaten but now that we have settled in K2 BC all is fine. The 4 trekkers left yesterday which meant I finally got my own tent so now I
am more organised.
Today four of us actually walked to the start of the Cesen Route and ascended to 5300m to have a look. Conditions were warm and we passed this
mornings light avalanche path on our route but it was great to test out the LaSportiva Olympus Mons boots and Black Diamond climbing gear provided
by Mainpeak which performed very well.
Right now our team are the only ones here at K2. The team will wait for a few more days until another team member arrives and then we will make
more progress towards Camp 1. This will only be after our Puza ceremony which is scheduled on June 5, after our team member Pemba Sherpa
consulted the Lama in Nepal.
Will update soon.
Mark Sheen.
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