Latok II Attempt. Three days after leaving Askole on June 10, Thomas Strausz, Wolfgang Göschl, Andreas Hollinger and I got to 4500-meter Base Camp on the Uzun Brakk Glacier. Our objective was the southwest buttress of Latok II, the westernmost summit of the Latok group. (Since the Italians climbed this peak in 1977, there has been confusion as to whether it is Latok I or II).) It took us a long time to ferry our material to the base of the buttress because of the broken glacier and the daily snowfall. We started in earnest on July 5. At first excellent perpendicular ice let us make good progress. We planned an ideal direct line, but we had to climb an ice couloir to the left for four pitches. A few meters of aid climbing brought us into a hidden crack system. At 6000 meters, we set up a portaledge. On July 31, after 26 days of unfavorable weather, we had climbed only 500 meters up the buttress. Two members had to leave. More bad weather followed. On August 16, we gave up, having reached 6100 meters, about half way up the buttress.

Christian Stangl, Österreichischer Alpenverein