(Carl reporting from Skardu)
Reaching 8000m (the summit is 8,611m) on K2 was a surreal moment..... I was alone 26,000ft above-sea-level... in an atmosphere with clarity similar to a jerkey smoker. I could not see more than a few hundred feet for the last hours of the ascent.
Upon reaching 8000m, the skies opened and gave me a quick glance of the world below... amazing beauty... and then closed up again. I then took some photos I carried with me, thanked God for my safety thus far, contemplated doing a handstand, came to my senses, took a rest break, thought of the thousands of people who made the mission possible, and began the treck back to camp 3.
Upon reaching 8000m while climbing on K2 I made a personal decision that I would remain with a few climbers to take a second shot at the summit. During my deep sleep at Camp 2 I was certain I would be returning to the mountain in a few days time to continue filming and climbing towards the summit.
While descending from Camp 2 to ABC the next day I found the risk factor had greatly increased from when I started up the mountain six days earlier. Natural rockfall, damaged fixed ropes, and rockfall triggered by other climbers told me the climbing season had come to a close. Every 100ft of my descent was comparable to trying to run across a 5-lane highway during rush hour without getting hit. Every 10-20 minutes up to 100 rocks varying in size from baseballs to basketballs would come blasting down the mountain from 1000's of feet above. I was blessed to have found quick shelter during each of these episodes (sometimes hiding behind rocks the size of a 17' television.)...my head buried in the snow and my backpack protecting my back. Upon reaching ABC, I figured both my protection and luck had been used up.
The hike back to Skardu has been epic.... the first day we hiked 11 hours.... then a 4hr nap followed by a 12am wakeup call, 15 hours of hiking (climbing 5000 feet to go over a pass in the mountains 20,000high (think... Mnt. Mckinley in Alaska) and then descended to 13,000ft for the evening. The final day was a 3-hour hike and 6-hour 4-wheel drive journey to Skardu. Kurt and I have arrived back in Skardu with most of the team (Wilco, Joelle, Ger, and Mick remained on the mountain for a 2nd shot at the summit.) Unfortunately the cooks in Skardu have the no more creativity than our expedition cook.... rice and dhal for the 75th time!
Upon arrival in Skardu we heard news of two of our climbers (Mick and Ger) having been flown my heli from the K2. Ger was hit by a rock while climbing to camp 2, and Mick aided Ger down from the mountain along with Banjo from the Irish expedition. Ger's helmet took the brunt of the blow, however he was still left him with a serious laceration to the scalp and was somewhat disoriented. He is being cared for at the local military hospital and will be released tomorrow morning.
Ger is now in fine condition however he is upset to have missed the chance at the summit and would enjoy being with his climbing partners rather than spending his time in the hospital. We spent about an hour with him today sharing stories and laughing about recent events.
Carl D. Drew "Life is forever beautiful. It's up to you to take notice and let it sweep you away with intense emotion." CDD
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