K2 Attempt. Our expedition comprised 10 Basques, Balti “Little” Karim and me. The Basque members were Iñaki Carranza, Juanjo San Sebastián, Txema Camara, Ramón Portilla, Alberto Posada, Koldo Tapia, Matilde Otaduy, Antonio Trabado, Angel Selas and Martín Zabaleta. Our approach march up the Baltoro went smoothly from June 12 to the 21st. The path is taking an acute environmental beating from soldiers, trekkers and climbers. We placed Base Camp at 5000 meters in the usual place. As we were the only team on the Abruzzi Ridge this summer, logistics were simplified. Actually, we functioned as several smaller groups on the ridge, first to acclimatize and then in attempts on the mountain. We used one good spell of weather between July 7 and 12 to acclimate and to replace old fixed lines. Several members got to 7300 meters during this period. From then on, we never had more than three or four good days in a row. On July 31, all but Zabaleta, San Sebastián and I left for home. We made two more attempts. The other two spent two nights at 7350 meters in hopes the weather would clear. On August 13 we too left for home.

Carlos Buhler