Gasherbrum I, traverse. Peter Hámor and Piotr Morawski from Poland did an alpine-style traverse from south to north of Gasherbrum I (8,068m, a.k.a. Hidden Peak) in 12 days, from June 16-27, 2008. They started on the Spanish route (1983) on the southwest face, reaching 6,600m on the second day after climbing a 1,200m ice face. In bad weather they spent four nights at this camp. Over the next two days, they continued up to join the American route (1958) on the southeast ridge. Here the weather deteriorated again, and they had to spend two nights. Finally, after one more bivouac and a total of 10 days of climbing, they reached the summit on June 25. They descended to the north.

The two men’s initial plan had been to continue the traverse to Gasherbrums II and III, but because of lack of food and fuel they descended to base camp on June 27. After several days of rest, they set off July 3 for another attempt to traverse these peaks, this time from Gasherbrum III to Gasherbrum I. However, when the weather deteriorated, they opted to climb directly to the summit of Gasherbrum II (8,035m), which they reached on July 6.

Vlado Linek, SMU James