Mountain Madness Gasherbrum II 2005: Update

Dispatch: This is Charlie Fowler reporting from Gasherbrum II basecamp. We were supposed to leave here today, but our porters failed to arrive. We spent the day lounging around camp and relaxing. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow and we will arrive in Skardu in four or five days. Yesterday afternoon three of our friends made the summit of GII ---Linda, Mario, and Christina. Although the weather on the mountain has been fine for the last few days, conditions on the mountain have been pretty dangerous. I spoke with Linda and Mario yesterday afternoon and both of them confirmed that the climb was both very hard and very dangerous. In fact, Mario reported being caught in an avalanche and thought it was crazy that he was even up there. I am happy for their success and glad they returned safe, but also pleased we did not make an attempt in these conditions. We all know the summit can wait until next year. That’s all for now! Charlie

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