Summer 2015 | No Success on GI SW Face
Czech climbers Marek Holecek and Tomas Petrecek are safely back in BC. Their attempt on Gasherbrum I Southwest Face remained unsuccessful due to bad weather conditions. Although details aren't available yet, team’s official sponsor says that the duo was “really close” to the summit.
“The happy news arrived! After a few days when we did not know about boys, finally got an update from them. They just got back to Base Camp. Although they had been really close, the mountain didn’t let them go to summit.” The Elements posted on Facebook this afternoon. “We do not have further information [as of now]”.
Starting from Base Camp on August 7th, Marek Holecek and Tomas Petrecek hoped to complete the route in seven days. They spent approximately two weeks on the mountain, though. Good weather at the start of summit push allowed the climbers to reach 7300m by August 11. They opted to wait there for a few days due to fierce wind.
Second communication with team took place on August 15th, when they were “a bit further” up from their previous bivouac. “The weather isn't helping us but we will still fight,” they said.
Marek and Tomas’ line of ascent - a direct route up the Southwest Face of GI - had previously been attempted twice by Marek together with late Zdenek Hruby (in 2009 and 2013), reaching 7600m and 6800m, respectively.
Existing routes on GI SW face include Jerzy Kukuczka/Wojciech Kurtyka’s 1983 line and Valery Babanov/Victor Afanasiev 2008 route. In 1977, Yugoslavians climbed SW face in lower portion before following SW ridge to summit.
“The happy news arrived! After a few days when we did not know about boys, finally got an update from them. They just got back to Base Camp. Although they had been really close, the mountain didn’t let them go to summit.” The Elements posted on Facebook this afternoon. “We do not have further information [as of now]”.
Starting from Base Camp on August 7th, Marek Holecek and Tomas Petrecek hoped to complete the route in seven days. They spent approximately two weeks on the mountain, though. Good weather at the start of summit push allowed the climbers to reach 7300m by August 11. They opted to wait there for a few days due to fierce wind.
Second communication with team took place on August 15th, when they were “a bit further” up from their previous bivouac. “The weather isn't helping us but we will still fight,” they said.
Marek and Tomas’ line of ascent - a direct route up the Southwest Face of GI - had previously been attempted twice by Marek together with late Zdenek Hruby (in 2009 and 2013), reaching 7600m and 6800m, respectively.
Existing routes on GI SW face include Jerzy Kukuczka/Wojciech Kurtyka’s 1983 line and Valery Babanov/Victor Afanasiev 2008 route. In 1977, Yugoslavians climbed SW face in lower portion before following SW ridge to summit.
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| The Czech climbers' intended line of ascent. |
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