Re: Karakorum wrap-ups
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:55 pmDiego Sahagún wrote:There are news about Andrzej in Polish but I repeat that I don't speak that: http://wspinanie.pl/2015/07/poszukiwani ... brunie-ii/
Andrzej Bargiel on Broad Peak.
courtesy Andrzej Bargiel, SOURCE
Andrzej Bargiel: I'm rather ashamed of those climbers, nobody tried to help search for Olek"
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Posted: Jul 29, 2015 03:38 pm EDT
(RMF24/translation by Tina Sjogren) Himalaya is ripe with clashes between commercial and independent climbers. Guiding on the rise in Pakistan, in an interview this morning Andrzej Bargiel voiced a concern of many free mountaineers.
On July 26, the Polish speed climber and ski mountaineer summited Broad Peak and made a full skiing descent. He’s thus far the only climber to have summited the mountain this season.
Meanwhile, fellow Polish ski mountaineer Olek Ostrowski vanished on nearby Gasherbrum II. Details are still sketchy but apparently Olek and his climbing mate Piotr Snigorski were descending from a failed summit bid when Olek, in front navigating a serac section just below camp 2, broke his snowboard and vanished, possibly in a snowslide or falling into a crevasse. His mate reportedly called out for him in vain and then descended to base camp.
Bargiel says he rushed to the peak with fellow climbing mate Dariusz Zaluski to help in the search. In an interview with Polish news source RMF24 the young climber says that except for porters, no mountaineers on the mountain got involved for Olek. Bargiel says he tried to organize a search mission with the aid of Sherpas to show him the way (he's not climbed the peak himself) but the Pakistan Army refused the effort.
Bargiel says despite his own success, the whole season has left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He says commerce makes people drop all responsibility to Sherpas, "no one feels obliged to help out".
"How is it less risky to try and help a mate than go for the summit," the climber asks, "the value of trying to save a life should be greater than the top."
In spite of Bergiel pleading with the Liasion officer for three hours to let him go up with Sherpas to search for the missing climber, Gasherbrum II has now been packed up on the order of the army. "Pakistan is ruled by the military," the climber said.
"The standards that prevail in the mountains right now are very sad," the Polish mountaineer concluded, hoping for a change.