The end of a trip is very melancholy for me, all of the months of work prior to the trip and then the duration of time in base camp and it all seems to pass like a flash when the last member of the trip goes to the airport to fly home, which Dave did early this morning.
This was an amazing season, with strong and fun clients, most of them able to reach the high camps on their chosen mountain or in some cases going above 7000m on both! I managed, in a three week stretch, to climb above the high camp on Broad Peak during the first week and descend directly back to K2 Base Camp, the second week go to the Shoulder on K2 during 4 days of terrible weather and then descend directly back to Base Camp, rest for a few days and do it all over again the following week. The trek out over the Gondogoro La was a massive adventure itself, in a snowstorm and then one night of rest in Skardu saw me involved in a rescue attempt on Latok II for over a week.
Chris and I are the last of the Field Touring teams remaining in Islamambad - last night, with Dave, we joined the Spanish guys from the rescue and the Broad Peak Iranian team for a very fun and amazing dinner at Luna Caprese where we cleaned them out of all the pizza, beer and wine! There was much to celebrate, and we did a good job of it.
Alot of the Field Touring K2/Broad Peak Double header team pushed very hard and should be congratulated for having such success. In a tough season that saw nobody summit either mountain, they did a great job with an absolute majority of clients reaching the high camp on Broad Peak and also Camp 3 on K2 - and two clients reaching the Shoulder on K2. Amazing!
I had alot of fun and I hope that Field Touring lines up another group of great clients for Makalu and Nanga Parbat for me next year!!
Tomorrow I fly back to Colorado to enjoy some fun rock climbing in the sun, perhaps a few road trips to California and Sante Fe as well before flying to Nepal for the Autumn season!
I will post photos and video from the season by the end of the week.
About Me
- Fabrizio Zangrilli
- Born in 1972, I live in the Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado and has been climbing for a very long time. I have been fortunate that climbing has taken me around the world, attempting and putting up new routes or speed ascents in the Himalaya, Alaska, Patagonia and Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. I have guided and or led expeditions to Everest, K2 (5 times) Makalu, Cho Oyu and the Gasherbrums, Nuptse South Face, Ama Dablam (5 times), Pumori and Cerro Torre. Life, business and injury have kept me sidelined for the past year, but I am back at it with more passion than ever!
Rab
