Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez Broad Peak Base camp

Today we decided to have our first encounter with the mountain, so we organized our tents to move them up and to establish camp one tomorrow.  According to the weather forecast, tomorrow will be the last day of good weather and we will take advantage of it.  We were the second expedition to arrive to Base camp, the third expedition arrived just a couple of hours ago.  We know there are expeditions from Russia, USA and ours (Slovenia, Austria and Mexico).  Today we proudly rose our Mexican flag and with it we also rose our host's, Pakistan.  Physically and spiritually fit, we are ready to start our ascent.

25-06-2008

 BROAD PEAK BASE CAMP: 4,900

We woke up late to recover from the trekking and the porting from yesterday.  The weather has been good with little wind coming from China and sunny, so we decided to take a shower.  We reorganized our luggage and base camp was established in a general way, mess tent, kitchen and restroom. 

24-06-2008

BROAD PEAK BASE CAMP: 4,900

We woke up very early and we went to the location where our definitive base camp will be.  We only counted with three porters and the members of the expedition to move all the luggage.  Each one of us carried what we could and we checked the platform with the luggage to install the tent that will be our home for the next 30 days. 

23-06-2008

BROAD PEAK BASE CAMP: 4,900

We left again at 6:00 AM, we walked over the glacier and three hours later we arrived to Concordia, located at 4,500 meters, we took lunch at this place and we shot some pictures of the landscape where the impressive pyramid of K2 is prominent, its summit from this point is 4,100 meters above us.  Broad Peak could also be seen spectacularly and totally from here.  We started to march again at 11:00 in the morning and at 14:30, now in front of Broad Peak, we found our guide sitting very comfortably surrounded by most of the luggage of the expedition, he had already paid and dispatched the porters.  The latter surprised us because our idea was to establish base camp in the same location as last year; and that point was 50 minutes away.  This caused a discussion and problems between the guide, us and the rest of the members.  We insisted and we sent to find the place from last year to stay at the beginning of the route, when we returned we found part of the luggage a little ahead from where it was left before.  This was because the guide along with the cooks, aids and high altitude porters moved it.  However, the location was not convenient and the tents of the Slovenians and Austrians were already installed.  We insisted on moving it ahead and the only thing we managed to get was that the place we proposed would be checked and it was going to be decided on the next day.  Finally the location was checked on that same day and it was decided to move very early tomorrow. 

22-06-2008

GORO II: 4,200 meters

We left Urdukas with the group at 6:00 AM because the road is not so easy to find as we have done while walking alone.  The route was not difficult, slight slopes and caution while stepping on the glacier ice because it is covered with stones and in some places the route can become slippery.  It took us four hours to arrive, not exhausted and with a mild weather.  We installed our tent and we expect to leave very early tomorrow because the trip to get to base camp is long. 

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Earlier:  Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez, members of the Ascending Couple, will attempt their sixth summit in Broad Peak, while on their quest for the fourteen highest mountains of the world
 Currently Badia Bonilla is ranked in the fifth place of the
international ranking of climbing women who are trying to conquer the 14 highest summits of the world
 Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum II are the summits that have been conquered by Badia Bonilla, while Mauricio Lopes has Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum II

The Mexican climbers matrimony, Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez,
members of An Ascending Couple, will depart next June 6 towards their sixth challenge on their quest of conquering the 14 highest summits of the world: Broad Peak, 8,047 meters, located on the Karakorum mountain system of Pakistan. The Broad Peak expedition will be their second visit to that mountain because they had an accident last year while they were attempting to climb the mountain, which forced them to abandon.  During ascent the
couple suffered a fall in a slide of snow and rock, being Mauricio
Lopez who stopped the fall and, thus, the most affected because his
wife Badia Bonilla impacted him sticking the crampons into his right
thigh. Despite the medical help he got from the leader of the expedition, his physical fitness was damaged and he never could recover entirely. When both climbers were some 300 meters from the summit (with still eight hours to go) they decided between a bad summit or a good return because Mauricio we not in optimal conditions, taking both the decision to end the expedition to preserve their integrity, their health and life.

For this second attempt to the summit of Broad Peak, twelfth highest mountain in the world, the route Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopes will follow is the southeast.  They will have to arrive to the airport at Islamabad, then cover 700 km in a small bus (a trip that is done in two days) by a road known as "Karakorum Highway".  They after five days of traveling by plane and road the expedition changes to a four by four to cover a dirt road of 110 Km in the worst conditions  to finally get to the point where the trek begins to cross the Baltoro Glacier for six days. Fifteen days after their departure from Mexico, the Ascending Couple will install their base camp at 4,900 meters of altitude above sea level.  From there they will start the process of acclimatization by installing the three altitude camps they will use (5,700 m, 6,350 m and 7,200 m) to conquer the summit. If they are fit, Badia and Mauricio will be reaching the summit of Broad Peak between the 20 and 25 of July, adding the sixth summit for Badia, fifth for Mauricio and their fifth as a married climbing couple.
Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez started the project of climbing the
highest summits of the world in the year 2000.  In the beginning the
adventure was created to challenge the record of eight summits that the Polish Wanda Rutkiewicz had as the maximum feat achieved by a woman; however, the expectations on the race to conquer the 14 eight-thousands was overcome and the challenge turned to be who was the first woman to conquer all of them.
Today, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltebrunner goes ahead with 11 of 14
summits, behind her are Spaniard Edurne Pasaban and Italian Nives
Miroi with ten.  Also Polish Anna Scerwinska is ranked four with six
and finally, Mexican Badia Bonilla is fifth with five summits
(Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum II).
Badia Bonilla is a graduate of Nutrition and specializes in
Antropometrics and Nutrition for Sports, aside of being a world level
climber.  Mauricio Lopez is an intern before becoming a Geology
Engineer, personal trainer, mountain climber and leader of
international expeditions.
Climbers Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez will send weekly the journal
of the expedition using VAIO and WALKMAN technology through their web page.  They will take high quality products made by AMARANTUM and ACUVUE.  Their preparation has been intense and most of that was done in SPORT CITY Club.
Mauricio Lopez and Badia Bonilla thank each and every one of their
sponsors for the support they have given for the expedition, making
note of their commitment with society and with Mexican sports

Millet One Sport Everest Boot  has made some minor changes by adding more Kevlar. USES Expeditions / High altitude / Mountaineering in extremely cold conditions / Isothermal to -75°F Gore-Tex® Top dry / Evazote Reinforcements with aramid threads. Avg. Weight: 5 lbs 13 oz Sizes: 5 - 14 DESCRIPTION Boot with semi-rigid shell and built-in Gore-Tex® gaiter reinforced by aramid threads, and removable inner slipper Automatic crampon attachment Non-compressive fastening Double zip, so easier to put on Microcellular midsole to increase insulation Removable inner slipper in aluminized alveolate Fiberglass and carbon footbed Cordura + Evazote upper Elasticated collar. Expedition footwear for mountaineering in conditions of extreme cold.  NOTE US SIZES LISTED. See more here.

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