Broad Peak ascents, attempts and tragedy. A Japanese team led by Kunimitsu Sakai reached the summit of Broad Peak by the normal route on June 27. Along with Sakai on the top were Kenji Shimakata, Masato Sasaki and Sachi Masumoto. A second Japanese expedition led by Naoyuki Saeki climbed Broad Peak on August 12. Mamoru Taniguchi and Junji Saitoh got to the main summit while three others turned back on the foresummit one hour before reaching the highest point. A four-man party of the South Korean AK-Woo Alpine Club claims to have climbed Broad Peak. On August 20, Jang Yong-Il, Han Yoon-Keun, and Shin Han-Cheol left Camp V at 7500 meters and said that they climbed to the top. On the descent at about 8000 meters, Jang disappeared, apparently swept away by an avalanche. The second Japanese party has expressed doubts about whether the Koreans got to the highest point. One of the Koreans talked of finding a small Buddha on the “highest point,” one of rock, which could only be the foresummit. They took nine hours from their camp at 7500 meters to the col and three hours and 20 minutes from there to the summit. It would appear that this would be enough time to get to the foresummit but not enough for the true summit, which lies an hour beyond. Six Spanish Catalans under the leadership of Jordi Bosch arrived at Base Camp on August 29. After establishing high camps, they made several summit attempts, the last on September 23, when two of them got to 7650 meters but had to give up because of heavy snow. Six members of an Italian expedition led by Claudio Schranz failed to climb to the summit of Broad Peak on July 25. All except Schranz descended; he hoped to wait out at Camp IV at 7300 meters the bad weather that had turned them back. Finally, at ten P.M. on July 31, he set out under a full moon for the summit, which he reached at dawn on August 1.