7 / 31
Page 07
Looking down the Shoulder. At the far end one can see Camp IV (Alberto Zerain)
Lars Flato Nessa
Norwegian 2008 International Expedition
“The plans for the ropes were really detailed. The plans for fixing the ropes on the last day were really detailed and had
been planned at Base Camp. Every single rope that we brought up for the last day had a specific purpose and a place
where it was to be used. “
August 1st after 05:30 Surprise
The long line of climbers makes its way up the Shoulder, a broad, shallow-angled hump thickly covered by ice and
snow, following the line of bamboo poles. The climb is not challenging but suddenly the climbers stumble across the
first ropes fixed by the Advance Team. This is a surprise; the ropes seem to start far too soon. It is generally assumed,
however, that the Advance Team has plenty of spare rope to fix the more demanding stages, in particular for the
Bottleneck and the Traverse.
Wilco van Rooijen
Norit K2 Dutch 2008 International Expedition
“We followed the rest but I think it was an hour or more later, sowe were pretty late. The sunwas coming up on the horizon
and in a few hundred metres we saw that the first trail breaking party had stopped. We wondered why because they
should have already been in the Bottleneck and the sun was rising.”