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Inaki reaches K2 Base Camp
Jun 24, 2004 10: 13 EST
Iñaki
Ochoa de Olza, from the Lorpen-Diario de Navarra expedition, has arrived
today 24 of June at K2 base camp on the Baltoro Glacier.
Iñaki, who has made the approach to the mountain in seven days with
the young Basque climber Alex Txikon, will try the second tallest mountain
in the world for the fourth time in his career (in 1994, 2002 and 2003).
The Navarrese climber, who has made the summit of 8 8,000+ peaks (Cho Oyu
twice, GI, GII, Lhotse, Everest, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak and Makalu, and
Shisha Pangma Central), may attempt the summit via the Abruzzi Spur, but
it depends of the conditions of the snow and the number of people who are
on this route; maybe more than 150 climbers during the 50th anniversary of
K2's first ascent.
He plans to not established either camps I or II because there isn't
any space to put tents and he thinks that, if the weather allows them, they
could begin the first summit push about 6 or 7 of July.
"Our intention is to go directly from the base of the spur to Camp II
and carry a little tent with us or pass the night in friends' tents if there
is space, because there are a lot of people on this route and no possibility
to establish a fixed camp. We are in very good conditions after Makalu (Ochoa
de Olza and Txikon made the summit 16 of May) and think that we can climb
without Camp I and, maybe, Camp II, but we have to wait to see all the conditions
and the situation", said Iñaki.
This is the fourth visit that Iñaki is making to K2. In 1994, when he
was 27 years old, he worked with Spanish television filming the ascent via
the North Ridge. He suffered an 80 meter fall at 7,400 meters when an old
fixed rope broke. He broke his right arm and three ribs and suffered injuries
to his nose. Later, in 2002, working for a commercial expedition, the weather
didn`t allow anyone to even attempt the summit. Finally, last year, in his
own expedition, Retena-Diario de Navarra, and in the company of Simone Moro
and Dennis Urubko, the bad
weather again impeded the Navarrese to start the ascent in the second year in a row without summits on K2.
Iñaki Ochoa de Olza (Pamplona, 1967), has been devoted to high altitude
climbing since a very young age: he summited Mont Blanc at 17 years old,
and almost made it to the top of Kanchenjunga at 22! That experience made
him to focus on Himalayan peaks and eighthousanders, as an independent climber
or as a high altitude guide working for commercial expeditions. Now he is
involved in completing the 14 8000+, having summited eight of them.
This April he summited Makalu. Before that, he reached the summit of
Cho Oyu twice (1993 and 2001), GI (1996), GII (1996), Lhotse (1999), Everest
(2001), Nanga Parbat (2003) and Broad Peak (2003). He has also summited Shisha
Pangma Central (1995).
He is now climbing K2, along with Alex Txicon.
Image of Alex Txicon (left) and Iñaki Ochoa (right) in Skardu courtesy of Iñaki Ochoa de Olza.
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