Spantik 2006 Expedition Dispatches

Overview

This August we have a strong team of 11 headed for Spantik and look forward to a great climb. Our members come from all over the globe including the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, the UK and the Czech Republic. Several of our team have been in the Karakoram before but for many this will be an enlightening experience culturally, physically and visually. We hope you enjoy following the expedition!

We would like to thank Eureka and Thai Airways especially for their support and generosity. They are two classy companies to deal with!

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Latest news

August 31, 2006

Most of our members are now back in Islamabad or already on the way home. We are receiving lots of good notes abotu the trip form the members and will be issuing a more detailed trip report with images in the next few days. 4 of our team came within 50 meters of thesummit and another 3 within 200 meters and all members reached C2 or higher. The comments so far are glowing with praise for the support staff, leadership and reflections on the beatuy and scale of the mountains. Click on the image to the right to see the entire route stretching out form C1.
(Image copyright Sean James/Field Touring Alpine)

We apologize for the lack of updates recently but it has been a very difficult trip communicating as the satelite phone connections have been minimal at best. We understand that a number of expeditions on the mountain were not able to make contatct with their home teams at all. We have been communicating with family and friends the entire time and holding off on sharing the dispatches to be sure everything was okay with all climbers and we did not create any public speculation. I am now releasing all of the dispatches and you can catch up below. As members return and send in images we will add them to the dispatches and also create an image gallery in the coming weeks.

 

Recent news

August 26 back in Skardu
August 25 On the way out from base camp
August 23 back in BC?
August 16 Back to BC and resting up for a summit shot
August 15 Resting in C2
August 12 Resting in C1
August 11 Moving up to C1
August 7 Team reached base camp
August 5 One day of trekking down, 2 to go
August 3 Prepping in Skardu
July 31 Arrival in Islamabad
July 22 Final preparations and Cristian atop Muztag Ata!

 

CLIMBING TEAM | SPONSORS | DISPATCHES | SPANTIK 2007 INFORMATION PAGE

SPONSORS

Eureka		Thai Airways
The Sports Lure		Adventure Outfitters
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THE CLIMBING TEAM

Sean James (UK), Leader

Sean joined FTA in 2005 on the Broad Peak Expedition as an assistant leader and returns to the Karakoram again this summer to. lead our Spanitk team

this is a link

 

 

 

 

Pieter ter Kuile (Dutch) , Deputy Leader

Pieter has lived and worked in the Northern Areas of Pakistan after he first climbed in there in 1991. He started his climbing career at age 15 in the Alps. In Switzerland he climbed peaks like Salbitschijen, Jungfrau and Monte Rosa. In France he summitted among others Aiguille Dibona and Aiguille Centrale de Soreiller. Since then he has climbed peaks on six continents; Mungalig Sar and Wallyo Sar in Pakistan, Damavand in Iran, Jebel Toubkal in Marocco, Aconcagua, Chimborazo, Mount Cook and Elbrus to name a few.
Pieter has instructed on introductory mountaineering courses and has successfully put his own skills to use during rescues on steep and glaciated terrain.
At present Pieter helps corporate managers become better leaders. He is a Dutch national educated in the US.

 

Scott Belcher (US), Climber

Scott currently lives with his wife and 2 year-old daughter in Cincinnati. He has climbed a number of 14,000ers in the US and has been spotted at crags as far from home as Crni Kal in Slovenia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan Roele (Dutch), Climber

Spantik is Jan's first Himalaya peak. He has more than 25 years of experience climbing
and ski-touring in the Alps. His most notable climbs include Mont Blanc, 4810m and Lyskamm, 4525m. Outside Europe he has climbed mountains in South America (Nevado del Ruiz, 5400m), Turkey (Mount Ararat, 5160m) and Southeast Asia (Mt Kinabalu, 4100m).

In his former life he studied biology (don't ask him about flowers), but nowadays he works as an IT consultant. In his spare time he likes running, playing football and taking pictures (Jan will volunteers to be a camera assistant for Cristian in case he needs someone!).

Jan is 44 years and lives with his wife (and climbing partner!), and two boys in the Netherlands.

Veronika Bartova (Czech), Climber and Expedition Doctor

Veronika M. Bartova was born in the Czech Republic, spent two years in Australia at high school in Melbourne, studied General medicine at the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. After graduation she specialised in internal medicine, nephrology and dialysis and worked at the Faculty Hospital, Charles University in Prague.
For the past five years she has been working in Medical and Marketing departments of GlaxoSmithKline Pharma in the Czech Republic.
Trekking and mountaineering has been her hobby since childhood. She has trekked and climbed several peaks in the Czech Republic, Slovakia (e.g. Gerlachovsky stit 2 655 m), Australia, Italy, Austria (e.g. Grossvenediger 3666 m), Switzerland (e.g. Monch 4 100 m) and France including Corsica and Reunion (e.g. Piton des Neiges 3 069 m). In the past five years also in Nepal (trekking and crossing several cols above 6 000 m from Makalu BC to Island Pk), Tanzania (Mt Kilimanjaro 5 895 m), Pakistan (trekking over Biafo Gl and Gondogoro Gl and over Biafo Gl and Hispar Gl with attempt to climb Workman Pk 5 895 m) and China (expedition to Mustagh Ata 7 565 m). The highest achieved altitude was 6 700 m on Mustagh Ata (Pamir, China) in 2004.

Barry "Baz" Jones (Australia), Climber

A Fireman from Sydney with 12 years rock-climbing experience in Australia,
USA and Africa. In December 2004 Baz climbed Lobuje East and Island Peaks in
the Khumbu region of Nepal. More recently he travelled to Thailand and
New Zealand while previously Baz backpacked around the US, Mexico, Europe, Nepal
and Southern Africa.
At home in Sydney Baz enjoys canyoning, bush-walking, climbing and cycling, but
it is the challenge of climbing at altitude that his my main focus right now.
This will be his first trip to Pakistan and hopefully his first time to near
7000m (Baz has shared that he hopes he doesn't feel as sick as the last time he was above 4000m!)

 

 

 

Mardana Mayginnes (USA), Climber

Mardana is a recent college graduate from the University of Denver and a
struggling filmmaker. In college, he tackled many Colorado Fouteeners while
averaging about 45 ski days a year (sometimes night skiing after classes).
Mardana's passions are mountaineering, skiing, filmmaking, and writing. He
has tackled a few peaks out of the United States, including: Pico de
Orizaba, La Malinche, Nevada de Toluca, Iztaccihuatl, and Vulcan Villarica.

 

 

 

 

Darshan Mayginnes, Climber

Darshan lives off the grid in the wilderness of the coastal mountains of northern California, where he grows organic apples, cherries and pears and tends a conservation conifer arboretum he has planted from collections he has made from mountains all over the globe.

Mountains are his passion and usually the view from the top is the best! He has trekked and climbed in the Andes, Mexico, Indian and Nepal Himalayas, Africa, Canadian and U.S. Rockies, Cascades and his beloved Eastern Sierra.

 

Cristian Coban (USA), Climber

Cristian will be joining us directly from a climb on Muztag Ata and we expect he will be ready to carry big loads for other members! He has an extensive background in trekking and climbing which includes trips to the Alps, Carpathians, Appalachians, Cascades, Hawaii volcanoes, Bali volcanoes, Himalayas, Borneo, Caribbean mountains, the Dead Sea and more.
Since 2001 he started to climb higher every year climbing Mt. Kinabalu (4,101 m) Mt. Kenya (4.985 m), Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in 2003 and by 2004 was climbing to 6800m on Lhakpa Ri and the Everest North Col route. He has taken mountaineering courses and climbed on rock snow and ice. He loves climbing at altitude and has a great attitude towards the process of acclimatizing and enjoying the climb before him.

 

Dale Cottam (USA), Climber

Dale Cottam has been climbing since he was 5 years old. His father was a climber, and he is following in his footsteps and going farther. Dale is an avid rock and ice climber, and he has climbed throughout the U.S. including the Rockies, the Sierras, and the Cascades. Dale has also climbed in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, including 21,210 foot (6432 meter) Illimani.
In addition to his passion for climbing itself, Dale enjoy climbing literature. His favorite books include The White Spider and The Last Step; The American Ascent of K2. When he is not climbing, Dale enjoys digital photography and spending time with his wife of 17 years and four children. Following his attempt on Spantik, Dale will spend an additional two weeks in the Karakorum trekking to the base camp of K2 before returning home.

 

 

Julia Carrera (USA), Trekker and Base Camp Medical Support

Julia brings 5 Element Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs to the altitude of
Spantik. Researching the effects of these ancient herbs and this
ancient form of medicine is what she brings with her on this trek to
the Karakoram.

 

 

 

DISPATCHES

August 26, 2006 back in Skardu

You can quite well ignore the most recent dispatch as I returned this evening from a day of training to find a nice email from Sean who let me know the team is back in Skardu safe and sound!
They arrived back in Skardu at 9pm (and likely had a late meal and headed to bed) following a 6 hour jeep ride from Arandu. During the ride they stopped at the thermal springs to refresh after nearly 3 weeks in the mountains

The news from the hill is very good but unfortunately does not include any summit. Sean, Veronika, Cris and Mardana and Ali got within around 50m but turned back due to a dangerous snow cornice guarding the final slopes to the summit. The rest of the sumit team (Baz, Dale & Scott) got to within a three hundred meters of the summit before turning around as the weather took a turn for the worse.
Sean says that the snow was very deep during the summit push but complemented the porters for excellent work on the route and for the team in setting camps. Overall they had a lot of changeable weather and were snowed in on the mountain at times.
The plan is to leave for Islamabad on the 28th and arrive by the 29th. We'll look for a full report with lots of pictures in the days and weeks ahead.

August 25, 2006 On the way out from base camp

I had had numerous calls from Sean (only one of which was audible) which have resulted in us knowing that the team is fine and that they are one their way out. Our ground staff has already sent jeeps to the trailhead and
we expect them in Skardu on the evening of the 26th if all goes well with the roads and jeeps.

Our phone calls continue to be very short and Sean was not able to tell me about the team's success on the mountain as he was cut off in mid sentence and his next 3-4 calls simply connected but I was unable to hear him speaking on the far end. In the order of importance Sean was running down the list" "Everyone is fine, we are on day one of the trek and need jeeps to meet...." and that was it. I am certain that when they reach Skardu we'll
get the full picture. In any event good to know that the team is safe and on the way out with great memories, a few pics and maybe even a summit among them!

The plan is for them to fly from Skardu on the 28th weather permitting or to begin the 2-day drive back to Islamabad. Having already driven up we'll hope for a short and beautiful flight for them!

August 23, 2006 Back in base camp?

Well after a long wait while the team was on the hill we have received 2 very short calls both of which were too brief to make out much. Essentially I heard Sean's voice on the other end saying hello and then it cut out. I have been in communication with the home staff of another company with a team on spantik and they too are having terrible communication problems with their team. The sun keeps us warm and also can wreak havoc with modern
communications!

So we'll take from this that the team has returned to BC where the sat phone was kept and have called in. This is good news as the timing is right on for the team to have had a summit shot on Monday from C3 and then return to C1 on Tuesday and then down on Wednesday. We may not know the exact details for a few days unless for some reason the satellite communications improve significantly.

If all goes according to the plan they will be leaving the base camp in the next 2-3 days. Quite likely they have some work still to do to get all of the gear off the mountain and clean up at BC. With a few days of trekking out we will certainly have word within 5-6 days of their return to town. At the latest they will be back in skardu by the 28th so they can make the two day drive back to Islamabad on the 29th and 30th. With some luck they may be able to fly back on the 29th.

We did receive word from Jan, Darshan and Julia that they have been having a nice time in karimabad and Hunza after coming out early after the first attempt up the hill. All three are fine and said that the Spantik area is beautiful. They are contemplating a run to kashgar but may have to poke around in pakistan more as chinese visas are only available back in islamabad.

If sean is able to get through and give me more information I'll pass it on.

August 16, 2006 Team back at BC resting for a summit push

We just had a nice call from Sean back at base camp!
All members are now back at base camp after descending today from camp 2. The descent took about 6 hours from C2 back to base camp and the plan now is to rest for one day and then head back up. Members are enjoying a warm sunny day at base camp and taking showers and cleaning clothes. All members are healthy and well.

Sean noted that the route is hard enough going that another team has already had a few members call it a day. Speaks well for the fitness and skill of our team that they are all still in the hunt!

This puts the team now roughly on the following schedule if they are to make the top:
Aug 17 rest day
Aug 18 to C1
Aug 19 to C2
Aug 20 to C3
Aug 21 first summit attempt
They have some spare days for several attempts and as well may consider moving directly to C2 and gain a day there as well.

With a number of days at C2 the team is certainly acclimatized for the next time up to move well. From my peanut gallery seat it looks like they have made good decisions and used the weather windows well so far and I am glad they are down during these two days or expected higher winds! We'll hope for one more good weather window to start up around the 19th so they have the best weather for C3 and summit.

August 15, 2006 Resting in C2

I received three calls this morning from Julia, each one short but overall we have a good picture now of what is happening on the hill.
First of all and most importantly everyone is safe and sound! Julia said it was raining in base camp and had snowed as much as 2-3 feet at C2 where most of the team is right now. She relayed that all members of the team are at C2 but for Darshan who was resting at C1. The HAPs were on their way up to C2 with more rope and there appeared to be some clearing weather and they were thinking to try to fix to C3 tomorrow. We know that there is at least one other team on the hill and this may be a key factor in trail breaking and route fixing.
As this is only the 15th the team has quite a bit of time to make an attempt and certainly seems to be focused on trying to make it at this time. We have had some reports of windy and cold weather ahead for the next days so the team may well decide to take an amble towards C3 and then descend. We'll look for more news in the days ahead!

 

August 12, 2006 Resting in C1

Just got a short call from Julia who is at BC and in radio contact with the team at C1. They all reached C1, are feeling well and are resting up for a load carry to C2 tomorrow. Good news!
Julia says that while it has been sunny at BC the team had to climb through a bit of rain and then snow on their way up to C1. We received a weather report which stated that the conditions in K2 area (and similar for Nanga Parbat) were pretty good for the coming days so we'll hope Spantik is just having a little light local bad weather.

August 11, 2006 C1 and C2 established and the team is heading up to C1!

I am just off the phone with Sean and we had a 1 minute and 52 second call (our record for this trip so far!) which was clear and I was able to get a very good update from Sean.

Most importantly Sean said that everyone is feeling well and ready to head up the hill together. Sounds like sore backs from the rides and minor GI upsets have all healed well....good news indeed! Sean believes that they are on if not slightly ahead of schedule and have been able to take advantage of very good weather since arriving at BC. In the last few days they have ferried loads to C1 and had a day of glacier training to ensure that all members of set to go with necessary skills for the climb. Sean was very happy with the day and said that he has a very strong team.

C1 and C2 was established by our 2 High Altitude Porters (HAPs) who arrived already acclimatized from other recent trips. The whole team is heading up tomorrow and they intend to spend 2 nights at C1 and then 2 nights at C2 and then reevaluate. It is conceivable that they would make a push to C3 and the summit but is just as likely they will descend to BC and then make a later summit push.

It is quite likely we will not hear too much during this time but we'll hope for a new call from higher on the hill.

 

August 7, 2006 The Team has reached base Camp!

I was out for a walk this morning when the phone rang and Dale's voice crackled in the distance. I heard a few goat-like sounds and then the phone cut out. A minute later the phone rang again and I had a nice 1 minute and 14 second call with Dale's voice clear as a bell.
The news from Dale:
----
We arrived this morning [the 7th] at base camp at 11:30am and were very wet as it had rained the entire way in. We had some interesting crevasse hopping but every made it. Now we are drying out in the sun and enjoying the views of the beautiful peaks all around us. We have set up the base camp tents and had a nice lunch already and are now down to sorting gear.
The cook staff slaughtered a goat today [explains the first phone call!] and we are looking forward to a great supper!
----

Aside from the nice sun they are having another piece of good news is that Darshan's bag is already on its way to base camp after it was located back at the hotel in Skardu. We'll hope Dale's arrives soon as well though he wrote back in Skardu to let me know that he already replaced all essential items from climbing shops in town.

The forecast seemed to be on target as they had said the worst would be Saturday night through Sunday. They will likely have a few more unsettled days and then well hope for general clearing later this week as they move up the hill.

August 5, 2006 One day of trekking done already!

From Stu in the US office
I just received a satellite phone call from Scott and Sean and they report that all is well at the end of the first day of the trek. They say that all members are healthy and doing well which is perhaps the best possible news we hope to keep hearing. A healthy team is crucial for a good climb!

One side note is that Darshan has a bag that has gone missing and we are chasing it up. Possibly left at Skardu or Arandu. We'll hope for good news from the ground staff in the next 24 hours. As Dale has a bag arriving late (British Airways banged it up a bit in London and it is on its way to Islamabad and then Skardu) these two bags may come together a day or so behind the team and likely catch them by the time they get to BC.

As promised the satellite phone cut out on us two times but during the calls we were able to have about a minute each time of crystal clear chatting which is good news! We understand that all summer long expeditions have been having only moderately good connections so this is consistent with what we have seen this season.

The most recent weather report is for basically lousy weather for the next 4-5 days and then clearing. This would be good timing for the team as the good weather is supposed to start about when they want to start up from base camp. The bad news is they miss a few good views on the way in. As mountains make their own weather Spantik may have better weather than expected and we'll hope so, Inshallah! In 2003 we were having glorious sunny days on Broad Peak while K2 was shrouded in clouds and wind...and these two peaks are only a few miles apart.

August 3, 2006 Prepping in Skardu

from Stu in the US office
I awoke this morning to a nice note from Veronika. Sounds like the heat of Islamabad followed them up to Skardu!
-------
Stu,
we are the second day in Skardu and enjoying the final preparations. This morning a small group (Chris, Dale and I) went to the fort above Skardu, it was a great little climb with a rewarding view from the top. Although it is 34 deg Celsius, we managed quite well. I was glad to see that out ATP guide Alam is the one we had last year at Workman's, I know he is good and reliable.
Thanks for keeping our beloved at home informed about our progress.
Best regards Veronika
------------
The team is sorting gear today and is on schedule to head out tomorrow morning. We will likely not hear too much from them until they get to BC in 4-5 days time when we hope for a summary of the journey to BC. Pieter was unable to catch a plane yesterday and is arriving this evening by bus along with Richard who is on the k2 trek

A note about satellite phones.........
We also were able to confirm that the satellite phone is working but as always it is a little suspect in terms of being crystal clear. Should you receive a call from one of our members at BC and it is broken up and does not reconnect please don't panick! We would have word of any mishaps first so you can always email me if you have some concern. Last year in nepal we had this happen several times that a connection would be made with only "Hello Mum" and then the service would cut out and not come back for several hours or even the next day. A number of things can affect our connections that are well out of our control.

July 31, update from Stu in the US office,

I have been in contact with the team in Islamabad and many of the members enjoyed day trips to local mosques and historic sites. The bulk of the team wa in town by the end of the the 31st and the team intends to head up a day early to Skardu to enjoy the cool air and open markets, Our meeting with the ministry of tourism is occurred on the 31st and the team has begin the two day journey by road to Skardu.

Jan has gone ahead to Skardu by flight and is coordinating with Ryan Waters to collect the excess equipment from the K2 trip for use on the Spantik expedition. Pieter wil be arrivin early on the 2nd and we hope he will fly the same day to Skardu and catch up with team. We are pleased that we have been able to get out of Islamabad early as this gives our team already one more day for the climb than planned.

Dale was missing a bag upon arrival and we hope that British Airways will find it soon and we can get it to Dale before he needs it. The missing items are all related to his higher camps and will not affect his trek or acclimatization schedule so this is goo dnews in case the bag is delayed fo some days.

Othe than that all is moving along according to schedule and we wiill look for a nice note from the team once they reach Skardu!

July 22, update from Stu in the US office,

Our news really seems to have begun in earnest now as one of our members Cristian Coban is just now descending from the top of Muztag Ata where he hit the summit on a perfect day with a few other members of his team with Summit Climb. You can hear the recent audio dispatch on everestnews.com. Certainly this bodes well for our team that Cristian will be joining us in ready form and full of confidence from his recent success. Now all that remains for him to do is the find his way from remote China to Islamabad with 50-60kg of climbing gear and video equipment and souvenirs!

I have been in touch on a regular basis with many of our team members and the enthusiasm is high for the trip as members collect from all corners of the earth in the coming week. Along the way small groups will be meeting up in airport lobbies in London and Bankok initiating the team building over final alcoholic libations before the long dry season ahead of them. We look forward to the tales of travel that inevitably arise on thethe journey to Islamabad and Skardu. I have had the pleasure of such meeting in both airports and can recommend London highly! (pic from 2003 with FTA guide Mike Hale on the right and Aconcagua 2003 member Kit Dickson in the middle)

Our team will be joined on the way to Skardu by our trekking group headed to K2 base camp, a group of 7 (mostly aussie's) headed to see one of the most remarkable mountain places on earth. We presently have a team headed for the summit of K2 and this team will crisscross paths with the Spantik team and hopefully have words for the wise to share. Read the K2/Broad Peak 2006 dispatches for more on their progress in the days ahead. At the conclusion of the Spantik expedition Dale Cottam will be making a rapid solo trek and we look forward to his report when he returns home in September!

All that remains for most of our members is to find the inevitable way to fit too much gear into bags too small fo rthe job and put them on the plane! We would like to thank THAI AIRWAYS for graciously adding 30kg to the allowances for all of our team members flying on Thai Airways. The Australian office has been a pleasure to work with!

Dale recently sent in the photo which defines most of our weeks approaching amajor trip as we occupy a significant portion of our homes for laying out and sorting our gear, food, clothing and sundries. Here Dale is showing his two older sons Kenton (5) and Orion (3) just how to do it. Dale notes that "Kenton and Orion are eating Cliff bars in the photo. Good thing I bought three boxes!"