Taxi in Islamabad
I begin typing Pierre an email and can’t believe what it says. “Dude don’t stress I know you’re in Islamabad already, but we still don’t have Pakistan visas or plane tickets.” Its days before we are scheduled to leave and the Pakistan embassy in LA is being a real pain in my side! Suddenly the phone rings, “hello I say”, “yes is Mr Skiy there.” “I say yes this is him.” “Yes Mr. Skiy your visas are ready for pick up here at the consulate.” “Ahggggguuuuuu I yell out!” “Andy!!!!!!! We got em, were going to Trango!” My dad drops us off at the airport with 8 haul bags and two double porta ledges. My stomach is doing somersaults, what in the hell are we doing going to Pakistan I think to myself. The politics in this part of the world are challenging and the US Pakistan relationship is strained to say the least. But the mountains draw us and our sense of adventure leads us to this wild country at any rate. Upon arrival in Islamabad which is the capital of Pakistan, I realize we are along way from home. All the women wear long robe like dresses with head coverings. As a young man like myself I’m not supposed to talk, wave or even make eye contact with a women under 40 years of age. The men all ware the native Pakistani attire, which is similar to a pair of pajamas, but really comfortable in the heat, I discover this first hand after I have a set custom-made to fit my long gangly frame. Our tour operator meets us at the airport with a big smile. Karrar Hadrid who runs Saltoro Summits trekking and tours will be our host. Karrar does an awesome job taking care of us and ensuring our safety! We pile all of our haul bags into the smallest taxis I have ever seen. Andy who is 6′ 6″ has his knees crammed up into his ears! We strap our haul bags on top and head to the hotel. Our guest house is nice and fairly inexpensive, I like the place instantly because of the armed guard with a shot gun out front! We meet Pierre here and begin to sync our minds into a strong team. The flight to Skardu cancels 2 days in a row, and I began to worry we may have to take the Karakoram highway. Images of Taliban and bandits fill my mind. When we finally fly out on the third day we are thrilled!
Skardu
Once in Skardu we check into the K2 hotel which is run by the Pakistan Ministry of Tourism. A beautiful hotel that looks out over the Indus river. At 3o bucks a night it’s a steal. I am expecting flocks of western trekkers and climbers in Skardu, but when we when stroll through town we are the only westerners. We have 3 days to buy food and supplies for the expedition so we begin the exhausting choir first thing. Walking the streets of Skardu the people are nice enough. Though be it a bit strange to be the only westerns in the area, I feel a bit vulnerable. There was no mistaken us, three big white guys each of us over 6 feet tall! At the K2 hotel we meet our Sirdar (head porter) Ishmal, our lead cook Ali, assistant cook Shakeel, and guide Sajadd. It’s mind-blowing to meet with them and discuss our trip plans! I am grinning ear to ear, I have waited my whole life to be going on a proper expedition and am esctatic with all the small steps required to make it happen! We have meetings, hash out details and finally set sail in 3 jeeps to Askole which would be a 6 hour jeep ride on a single lane dirt road with 1,000 foot drop offs to either side. Once in Askole we camp in an area with tall walls to secure our equipment.
The town of Askole itself is surprisingly very remote and primitive. Imagine a house that is 50 feet by 30 feet built of old stones and mud. The animals live in the lower portion and the humans live in the upper portion. No electricity, no plumbing, no running water. Folks from India apparently settled this area a thousand years ago, and from the looks of things have not really changed much since than. A pastoral society, very connected to the land and their animals. ” Should we buy the goat.” I say to Andy and Pierre. “How much is it?” Andy asks, “its 250 dollars I say.” ” What” Andy says “are you joking, we could eat gold-plated fillet mignon for that.” “No way he says.” “Oh wait I think I did the math wrong” I say “its 150 dollars for a goat.” “Well that sounds better” Andy says but it’s still a lot, Pierre agrees its alot but dang it will taste sooooooo gooood! We decide to buy the goat, about an hour later a Pakistani holds the goat over the fence and drops it in our compound. Mey mey mey the goat skeels as he lands on the ground, he looks square at me and we lock gazes, wow I think that’s my goat! Cool I have never owned a goat before. Then he runs off. As it turns out, we are required to hire a goat walker. To our utter disappointment the goat manages to chew through his rope and escapes. So I highly suggest buying a goat chain if you ever purchase a goat on your trips! We began our 3 day trek in the next day. Covering about 10 miles a day, most of the trek is flat or gently rising. The landscape is littered with 6, 7, and 8 thousand meter peaks. Walking amongst giants is what keeps going through my head! We are walking along with 58 porters, holly crap I never would have guessed it would take so many porters but we need 55 gallons of fuel for our cook stove. Ya not real efficient if you havent guessed, but they burn HOT, HOT, HOT!
Base Camp
We finally arrive at base camp 3 days later. Its nothing like what I would have expected, a sandy beach! We walk around bare foot and frolic in the sun! From here we will need to move all our gear 1,000 feet up a gradual talus slope. Pierre and Andy are excited to start moving loads and on our first night start the process. I meanwhile decide to take a long nap, I’m tired! It took us 2 weeks to get from the USA to base camp. The next 3 weeks are devoted to choosing a line, and moving all of our equipment to the base. I would like to climb a new route on Great Trango. We have brought with us a 120 bolts and a bosh annihilator that I have rigged to charge with solar. After many hours of hewing and hawing we realize that new route development will be to dangerous due to falling ice and snow from the summit. The only safe place to climb on the East face of GT in my eyes is along the Norwegian Pillar. Upon realizing this I shift my attention to several other peaks in the area. I voice that I want to establish a first ascent. My two comrades have only Great Trango in mind, they very badly want to get to the summit. Being outvoted 2 to 1 we collectively decide to have a go on Great Trango via the Norwegian Pillar. The route is a 4,400 foot big wall with 3,000 feet of glacier to approach. The summit of Great Trango will be just over 20,000 feet! From the glacier we fix 600 feet of rope on what is reminiscent of the manure pile in Yosemite. Low angle and coarse rock puts a core shot in one of our ropes and several holes in our haul bags. Avalanches regularly rip down a gully just to our left. We have 7 haul bags, and two double porta ledges! From the top of the manure pile we must navigate 2,000 feet of steep crevasses. We move at night across the avi gully to ensure the snow stability is solid. The avis run down from the top and run down a chute of sorts like a giant luge course, so we run across these avi tubes like squirrels crossing the highway! This and the next 1,500 feet prove to be some of the hardest physical climbing. Moving all these haul bags at 15,000 feet is totally exhausting. We finally get all our bags to a solid high point and return to base camp. We have been on the move for 24 hours! We return to base camp and end up waiting out a storm that lasts almost 10 days. We try to entertain ourselves, but its hard to be away from our family, friends and girlfriends. We have a lot of time to think about why we are here, and the constant edgyness of what it may be like to be on the wall at 20,000 feet. The Norwegian Pillar takes the obvious buttress to the summit in the middle of the face. August 2 its 6:30 in the morning the sun is shining and the sky is splitter blue. Shakeel and Ali our cooks prepare a pancake breakfast with tea and coffee. It feels weird to be leaving our friends. The month of August will be Ramadan for them, so they will only eat during hours of darkness. Shak and Ali became our Pakistani brothers, and its nice knowing they will be watching over our stuff and us! I am the last one out of camp this morning. With Young Buck blasting in my ears I start the long hike. I have a dream the night before that Karl Tobin and I are starting a 100 mile endurance mountain bike race,” slow and steady” he tells me, his words keep running through my mind.
Atop the fixed lines we pull up the 600 feet of rope and cross the gully. We finally reach our stash of haul bags and dig a snow ledge for our tent. It takes us 12 hours to reach this point from base camp. We stay here for 2 nights, enough time to find the start of the route and move our bags the last few hundred feet to the proper start of the climb.
First pitch of the Norwegian Pillar
On Aug 4th we start climbing the Great Trango proper by way of the Norwegian Pillar. We will be attempting the third ascent of this classic route. The sun is shining and morale is high as we move our way up the rock. On Aug 6th Andy and I climb a thousand feet of perfect Yosemite splitters. 5.10 hand cracks and 5.9 off widths constitute the climbing, awesome climbing and awesome weather make for an awesome day! The following day we haul our big load up these lines. It takes 16 hours to make the hauls, we have to haul 4 separate loads up each length of rope, brutal work. We figure we haul the equal of 3,000 feet on this day. To top it off after hauling all this, one of us needs to climb another OW pitch. Me being the only Scott Parry trained solder gets nominated to get er done. We finally got to bed at around 11:00 o’clock that night.
The next day Pierre takes the lead, its storming now but he happily takes the lead, he is used to climbing 0n the Troll Wall in Norway so this weather is home sweet home to Pierre. Pierre rates the pitch A3. The next day the storm clears, Andy and I climb 3 more pitches. The storm is starting to move in more and more at this point. Pierre and I head into ever worsening weather the next day. I manage a A3+pitch hooking in a waterfall at one point. Pierre racks up for the crux pitch A4, its now fully sleeting and water is running down the pitch. He makes one move and is like screw this. We descend back to camp and wait out the storm awhile, at 4 in the afternoon Pierre and Andy head back up to tackle the crux pitch. Pierre spends 3 hours on the pitch and they descend back to camp. I have hot meals ready for em! Pierre is totally psyched to have led a A4 pitch in such a remote setting!
Enduring a storm at 17,000 feet
Andy than goes on the next day to lead another A3 pitch. The storm hits in full force now. Its like winter in North Dakota, blowing snow and temps in the 30′s. Burrrrrr. we take shelter in the ledges for 3 straight days while the storm batters the wall. On Aug 14th we decide it’s a lull and decide to move camp, its my birthday so I have no qualms about being active. We make the move with hopes the weather will hold. Boy oh boy are we wrong! The temps drop and the sky’s unleash hell! We have another long day in cold and wet conditions. Pierre and I both frost nip our finger tips, and Andy and Pierre both frost nip their toes. Woah, we really need to be careful here. Frost bite is a serious concern.
We auger into your new camp at 17,000 feet. A full hanging porta ledge camp. The storm is not looking to let up anytime soon. We decide that we need to keep moving regardless of the weather if we are to make a solid attempt on the summit. So in full winter conditions we trudge into the aid climbing. Progress is slow with icy cracks and hard modern-day aid climbing. We are averaging 1 pitch a day. Fortunately we are well protected at this point on the wall and do not feel threatened by falling ice and rocks. I belay Andy on an especially icy pitch. “How does it look Andy”, I can tell he is frustrated with his big bulky gloves. “F#@, s@#, g#$$” a stream of profanities comes spewing out of his mouth. We are really being tested here I think to myself, 3 hours later Andy lowers down after finishing the pitch and says “well the only thing worse than that pitch is the next one!” Oh boy I think that is my pitch, slight dread fills my head, but at the same time I look forward to meeting the challenge of tomorrow.
Porta ledge camp at 17,000 feet
The weather finally clears and we move camp up yet another 1,000 feet. Our camp is positioned 3/4 of the way up the wall just below a snow ledge. We have perfect blue sky days and are filled with hope that we may actually get to the summit of this bad boy! We continue to push the ropes higher. Just as Pierre lets out a howl of joy from pushing us past the technical ice climbing that separates the lower buttress from the upper 1,500 feet of climbing, I get the bad news from Amanda my girlfriend on the sat phone. The weather will not hold, in fact we have 3 more days of clear weather before another storm is gonna hit us. Andy and I talk it over and over and over. “It doesn’t look good” Andy confesses, “I know I don’t think its a good idea to continue I say”. We have 9 days worth of food left. As I see it, it will require 6 days to summit and 3-4 to descend. Nine days in total. So with this approaching storm we are looking at going without food for 7-14 days to pull off the summit. We are already at a 1,500 calory a day diet and I am loosing weight daily. We decide to turn the ship around and head down while we still have good weather. Still today I don’t regret making this decision at all. The storm ends up lasting for weeks and we more than likely would have succumbed to frost bite if not worse. It was extremely hard to pull the plug and go down after so much hard work and the never ending logistics that are required of a trip of this magnitude. We should have taken food for 45 – 50 days. One more haul bag and we could have waited out any amount of weather.
Our descent goes smoothly, Andy runs the show. He rappels with three 200 foot lines, than I lower all the bags in one massive bundle using a redirected ATC and passing a knot using a load releasing hitch. We put all of our Yosemite Search and Rescue skills to the test. We even devise a tyrolian traverse over the avi gully, and also a guiding line to safely move the bags on the very steep glacier. On our second day descending we put in a 19 hour day to reach the relative safety out of the way of the glacier. It was hard to look up at Great Trango and have to walk away with out the summit, but it feels good knowing that we will in fact escape with our lives and all of our fingers and toes. In total we spend 22 days on the wall battling storms and high altitude.
Ali and Shak meet us with big grins and hugs. They are very happy to have us back, and they prepare a big meal, they have been hiding a bottle of coke for our return, man does it taste good! The porters come the following day, and we leave base camp and head towards Askoli. It feels good to be heading home after such an epic adventure. Once in Skardu we end up having to stay at the K2 hotel for 7 days since we will need to extend our visas in Islamabad, and the government offices are closed due to holiday. It turns out to be a real nice readjustment period back to civilization. We eagerly eat plate after plate of hot food, trying to put back weight that we lost on the climb. We are in desperate need of hot showers since we have gone 2 months without. Unfortunately the showers are cold in Skardu, so we have a quick scrub and try to get the stench off our bodies. Additionally the end of Ramadan is going on, in the Muslim culture the last day of Ramadan is celebrated with a joyes meal with friends and family. Skardu is bustling with the giddy feeling of an upcoming holiday. Parents buy cookies and gifts for there kids, it feels alot like Christmas!
“The weather is to bad to fly” Pierre says aloud. “Guess that means we have to take the road ey” I say, “yup exactly” Andy says. we load up the rented Toyota mini van and head out on a 20+ hour drive to Islamabad. An amazing drive through the heart of Pakistan! I feel like I am in a national geographic adventure special the whole time. Pot holed roads and vast amounts of gravel roads constitute the drive. The road is surprisingly sparse with traffic. I feel pretty safe the whole drive, check points are never a problem. Our guide suggests a short cut. “Why not” we all agree. We spend the next 4 hours driving far into the rural hills of Pakistan. Amazing views but a we bit vulnerable is how I would describe the shortcut. At one point we did not pass another car for about an hour. We climb high over a mountain pass at about 15,000 feet! After the shortcut we pass through the town of Abbottabad where Osoma bin Laden was killed. I nice rural town is how I would describe it. Once back to our guest house we finally got our hot shower! I take about five the first day. Karrar met us and takes great care of us. We request meal after meal of Dominos pizza and McDonald’s. We finally fly out 4 days later and happily make our way back the good ol USA!
I would sum up my experience in Pakistan as an amazing adventure. It was fascinating to see first hand the people and the culture. The media gives the country a lot of bad press, some of which is true. But they forget to mention that 95% of Pakistanis are good hearted people trying to make a living and raise a family like the rest of the world. They forget to mention how much peace the Muslim religion preaches. I think a trip to trek or climb in Pakistan though a bit sporty is well worth it. Once in the mountains on the Eastern portion of the country it is very safe. I will definitely go back to climb in the Karakoram another day!
The Trango massif
