Islamabad, Pakistan

The expedition has started with a well rehearsed flurry of activity, showing this team's depth of experience. Bruce Normand and I arrived on May 19th and quickly dove into the task lists. Don Bowie, PV Scatturo and Chris Stensland arrived on the 20th, bringing 6 of Don's Search and Rescue team members with them.

Our cargo, which the folks at Priority Worldwide shipped, beat us to Islamabad. And while the rest of the team were checking into the hotel, Bruce and I shifted over 1200 pounds of gear from boxes into blue plastic drums. I've now handled all of the gear at least 3 times: receiving, organizing and packing it, but for Bruce it was Christmas morning. In minutes he was completely outfitted in down and fleece, with squeaky clean boots and razor sharp crampons. Grinning ear to ear, he would have tried it all on, if the temp had just dipped below 100F.

Islamabad, like all of Pakistan, is a place of romance or anxiety, depending on your tendency toward naitivity or paranoia. It is a pleasure to be here with an experienced team of travelers. Bruce, PV, Don and I have all spent months in this country, and love the thrill of the open markets, the sharp tastes of the spicy food and the parries and thrusts of negotiating with merchants. This made it easy to split the lists and go about the business of organizing the expedition. And the speed at which we are ticking off our task list is proof that this team is highly motivated.

At 6 this morning, Don, Chris Stensland and  4 of the trekkers loaded into a truck with all of our gear for the two day journey up the Karakoram Highway. PV dug through his dog-eared phone book and called Suleman Minhas, an old friend who helps run the Central Asia Institute in Pakistan. Suleman is featured in the book Three Cups of Tea, which chronicles the early days of the CAI and its efforts to build schools throughout the region. They now have 53 schools operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This summer they will build five more. Ever gracious, Suleman helped with the last minute shopping. Bruce and PV shoved a few thousand dollars into their pants and they set off to convert it all into rupees. Bruce, ever frugal and void of vanity, spent fifty cents of our precious funds on a haircut. He should have spent more.

Meanwhile, I represented the expedition at the Pakistan Alpine Club's official expedition briefing. It was a classic affair, chaired by Mr. Tariq, an old climber with a long white beard and scholarly bearing. Ashraf Aman, the first Pakistani to summit K2, and the owner of the agency we are using for base camp services, sat to our right. On the left was our Liaison Officer Major Sadeek. As old hands, we rushed through the paperwork, posed for some pictures and shook hands all around.

It is now time to head to the mountains. And that would be a lot easier, if Joel Shalowitz, our base camp manager wasn't stuck in the US. It may be hours or days before he can fly. Tomorrow the rest of us will fly directly to Skardu. Once there, with all the gear finally in one place, we can get truly organized for the trek and the first few days of the climb.

Other than Joel not being here, we are executing our plan with precision. It is re-assuring that after so many months of planning, we are making so much progress, so quickly. We have a big jump on the season. In fact, we are the first of 15 expeditions that will head to the Pakistan side of K2 this summer. And we are one of five teams that will attempt a new route on the peak (the last new route was climbed in 1991, although the Basques linked previously climbed routes in 1994 completing the SSE Ridge). 

We are aiming to pioneer a route up the unclimbed East Face of K2. This is a big undertaking. To be successful, we need the right weather conditions, a little luck with climbing conditions and the right team. So far, all indicators point to this being the right team.

Chris Warner