The waiting game on K2.

It’s now Sunday morning 19th July all team members from our international seven summits team have all completed their final rotation on K2 with the hope that enough has been done to allow the body adjust to the huge altitude pressures forced app on it on summit push. Now it’s a waiting game as the forecast ahead is stable with a high risk of snow arriving next weekend 25/26th totalling 50cms over the two days with risk of high winds and super low tempatures above 8000mts., just not ideal. The final & major jigsaw piece has to be installed which is we need to get a fixed line in above camp four on the very dangerous section called the bottle neck just below the hanging ice serac. Late last night the three major teams met ” seven summits (ourselves) under expedition leader Dawa – Himalayan experience under Russell Bryce & Maddison mountaineering under Garrett Maddison” with a very positive outcome. A unamanous decision was made that the three leading teams will collaborate allocating two high altitude Sherpa from each team to fix the final section of the climb as soon as humanly possible. Now this to the untrained reader seams all straight forward but it’s not it’s at a super sonic altitude of over 8000meters which takes four days to reach. Now here’s the conundrum today and for the rest of this week the weathers stable overcast but stable, with the changes coming next weekend. The big question on everyone’s lips is ” is this the window, this week” or do we let it pass and hope that another window opens on the other side of the poor weather arriving in 5 days. If we leave tomorrow morning Monday C1 Tuesday C2 wend C3 Thursday C4 Thursday night early hour Friday morning push for summit, back to safety of a lower camp Saturday, would that do it beating the weather . But what if it comes a day earlier and I get caught out, caught in a storm at 8000mts. It would be fatal. If we don’t go is K2 over has the window closed !!!!. The waiting game. Emotions are tense ,blood sweat & tears has gone into this point but experience something you can’t buy is to the fore. All the moves will be calculated not based on maybes of ifs yes there’s a bit of grey in there somewhere but let’s keep it a bit. For now I’ve got my summit back packed consisting of my high altitude moon boots my 8000meter one piece down suit , summit mitts, balaclava ,oxygen mask ,technical climbing equipment ,head torch and a pocket full of courage….. But I haven’t got to this point with out standing on the shoulder of giants in my community. The key to this point has been my Five F’s …. Family – my back bone alway their to catch me when i fall Friends – always keep me grounded , mostly sweet with a few nuts. Fun – my life’s an adventure and funs placed dead centre. Faith – Jesus Christ my best adventure companion in life . Follow my Dreams – I cherish them daily, A belief boils calmly inside me today knowing that with with that Irish luck i can successfully dance with K2, sensibly over coming any obstical ahead, it’s now down to me & Mother Nature. Life rewards the dogged not the qualified… Let’s see what the next 48hrs brings Jason