ITALIAN K-2 EXPEDITON LEADER HANS KAMMERLANDER
Ski descent from K-2 is possible says Hans Kammerlander
JULY26-2000
By
Asem Mustafa Awan
ISLAMABAD
— Italian climber Hans Kammerlander left for home on early Wednesday
morning after having a strong belief that ski from K-2 summit at 8611
metres is possible.
Skiing
down from K-2 summit is like a dream for Hans who will be coming for the
peak in 2001 for the third time with the same ambition.
Having
skied down from the Everest summit Hans has 12 8000ers to his name and his
quest for Himalayan Crown with 14 8000ers is likely to come true in 2001.
"I
am sure now as I was there and I took my skies with me and it is possible
except one place which is bottle neck — that 50 meter rock portion is
not possible but rest it is for sure that it can be skied down," said
Hans before leaving for airport on late Tuesday night.
Hans
ran out of climbing time as the weather remained bad for 22 consecutive
days from June 28 onwards.
Hans
reached the highest point 8090 metres with Konrad Auer in one push from
Camp 1 at 7000 metres, climbing the peak in Alpine Style.
"We
started on June 28 from Base Camp at 5000 metres and reached Camp 1 at 7000 metres the same day beginning at
5:00 am. We spend a night on Shoulder at 8000 metre and went
a little up only for training before coming down on June 29,"
said Hans.
It
was Hans second attempt on K-2 and that too from the same route the South
South East Spur. He came in 1999 for the same route with the same plan of
ski descent (The Nation has the exclusive).
"Skiing
down is possible from South South East Spur but it is impossible on South
East Abruzzi Ridge which is the normal route on K-2."
Hans
has scaled 12 of the world 14 8000ers. The remaining two are K-2 in
Karakorum, Pakistan and Manaslu in Nepal.
"We
were training for the K-2 but weather turned bad and it kept on snowing
for 22 days and it was not
possible to climb during that time," said Hans.
I
will come again for K-2 in 2001 but it will be for a short period and
prior to that I want to climb Biantha Brakk which is a very nice and
challenging peak,"said 43-year-old Italian who came from Tirol a
small town in Italy near Austrian border.
The
other three members of the expedition were Hartmann Seeber (34), Hans
Mutschlechner (46) and Sebastian Sigler (36). The three were in supporting
role for Hans and Konrad.
ENDS
Hans
ski profile in high altitude
ISLAMABAD
— Hans has made a ski descent from Nanga Parbat summit at 8125 metres,
skied down from 7500 metres from Broad Peak, 8000 metres from Makalu, 7800
metres from Kanchenjunga and 7400 metres from Shishapangma.
He
made the summits of all the peaks and than wore the skies to follow his
passion.
He
took special pair of skies for the assignment.
With
12 8,000ers Hans has tried Manaslu earlier in 1991 but bad weather forced
him to come down from 7,800 metres. Hans lost his two close friends on the
mountain.
An
extreme skier Hans has made a number of extreme skiing records and the
most notable one is coming down from the summit of Everest, the highest
point on the planet earth.
He
hopes to finish the 14 8000ers next year.
CAPTION:
Hans Kammerlander with his team — Photo by the writer