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More news from the Karakorum today, where we're learning that the weather remains bad and conditions on some of the big peaks are not improving as the teams would like.

We'll start on the Gasherbrums, where ExWeb is reporting that a large snow storm has struck the mountain, sending teams down from C2 where they had been hoping to launch their summit bids on both G1 and G2. News on the Jagged Globe website confirms that their team was amongst those that retreated off the mountain as it was blasted with snow. It seems that Viekka Gustaffson was amongst those forced down from an attempt on Gasherbrum I.

Meanwhile, there have been no updates to Don Bowie's site since July 8th, when we were told that Don and the crew were climbing up to 7000m and hoping for a weather window on G3. We can only assume that conditions are bad on that mountain as well, and that perhaps they were forced down too.

Jumping over to K2, the reports are that the mountain is loaded with snow, especially on the tricky upper slopes. There is enough there to send Giuseppe Pompili packing from the mountain altogether, saying that it isn't worth the risks to continue climbing the mountain this year. He's not the only one calling quits, as both Sean Wisedale and Tunc Findik have left base camp as well. Both men indicated that they were listening to their gut instincts while giving up their climbs as things don't feel right on the mountain at the moment. Wisedale went so far as to say "The presence of death here is overwhelming". Tunc will now head over to G2 with a hope for better luck.

Finally, back on Nanga Parbat, the teams are still dealing with the two deaths there over the weekend. Yesterday I mentioned that Korean climber Go Mi-Sun had fallen to her death, and I incorrectly stated that her body had been found and removed from the mountain. It turns out that that isn't true, and while the team knows where her remains are, they haven't gone up to find them, nor has a recovery operation been mounted at this time. As you can imagine, the mood is described as somber in BC.

Sad news is coming in from the Karakorum following this weekend, as Korean climber Go Mi-Sun has perished on the mountain. According to this report from ExWeb, she fell on her descent at an altitude of 6200 meters and went missing near Camp 2. Her body was found later, and has since been removed from the mountain. She was in an unroped section of the Nanga Parbat at the time.

Miss Go's death wasn't the only one to hit the mountain over the weekend. Wolfgang Köblinger slipped and fell near the summit, shortly after he topped out. According to reports, there were high winds on the mountain at the time, and he was descending behind a Korean team, but when they looked back to check his progress, he was no longer there. Is last known footprints led to a very steep drop off at 8060 meters. There is no hope of finding him alive. Wolfgang was climbing with Gerfried’s Göschl’s team.

This is incredibly sad news, as I don't think it was any secret that Go Mi-Sun had quickly become a favorite climber of mine whom I was cheering on from a far. After she knocked off three 8000m peaks in Nepal this past spring, she had gotten herself into a position where she had an outside shot of becoming the first woman to knock of all 14 of those mountains. The plan for the summer was to top out on Nanga Parbat, using it as an acclimatization climb at the same time, then head to the Gasherbrums to knock off G1 and G2. That would have left her with just Annapurna to go.

Last week, when the reports came in about her successful summit on Nanga, the word was that she had used supplemental oxygen, which was not her typical approach to climbing. We are now told that she was not in fact on the O's when she topped out, but it was one of her companions instead. It was also noted that she was quite exhausted when returning from the summit, and I remarked at the time that I hoped her ambitious schedule was not catching up with her. Sadly, you can't help but wonder if that exhaustion didn't play into her fall on that unroped section between Camp 2 and 3.

My condolences to the friends and families of these two climbers. The mountaineering community grieves with you today.

Great news from the Karakorum today as word on successful summits have begun to trickle in, starting on Gasherbrum II where Ueli Steck has topped out yesterday and returned to BC today according to the Hardwear Sessions blog. Not many details are known yet on the climb, but it is being reported that Ueli was using this as a training climb for Makalu in this fall.

Meanwhile, ExWeb is reporting that Joao Garcia has summitted Nanga Parbat, claiming his 13th 8000 meter peak and leaving just Annapurna on his list. Joao's climbing partner Amin Ulal also topped out as well.

Korean climber Go Mi-Sun also reached the summit of Nanga Parbat earlier today, but had to use supplemental oxygen to do so. Miss Go has generally climbed without the O's, but perhaps her ambitious climbing schedule is getting the best of her. After resting, she'll move on to the Gasherbrums to have a go at both G1 and G2 in her bid for a second 8000m Triple Header this year.

The summits aren't quite done yet on NP however, as Gerfried Göschl's team is moving up along a new route, and if everything stays on schedule, they should be topping out tomorrow. They're climbing alpine style and established a fourth camp today where they are waiting for the winds to die down before proceeding up.

Moving over to Broad Peak, the Field Touring Alpine team is now in place and ready to begin their summit bid as well. All of their camps are established, and the climbers are finished with their acclimatization process, and now they are watching for a three day weather window that will give them access to the summit. Reportedly conditions are very good on the mountain, and it is only a matter of time before they move up.

The Gasherbrums are abuzz with activity besides just Ueli's successful summit. The Jagged Globe Team set off on their summit bid a few days back, while the Altitude Junkies are in BC and keeping an eye on the jet stream, hoping for a window. Don Bowie and his team have their sights set on G3, and their latest update has them all at 7000 meters and waiting for the winds to die down as well.

Jumping over to K2, it seems that weather has cleared up enough for teams to begin establishing the route to C2. Most of the teams have spent a night at C2 at this point, and are anxious to get higher on the mountain, but conditions have been really dicey so far.

Finally, Kazak climbing legends Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov have arrived in Pakistan are reportedly in Skardu. They'll begin the trek to K2 soon and are expected in base camp around the 22nd of the month. I'm not sure what their plans are, but they will no doubt be making some spectacular attempt, alpine style, on the mountain. Stay tuned!

A few weeks back I posted the sad news that Italian climber/skier Michele Fait had died while skiing down K2. Now, the National Geographic Adventure Blog has posted a follow-up with a little more information on the accident and a link to a first hand account from the mountain.

According to this article Fait, and climbing partner Frederick Ericsson arrived in K2 Base Camp on June 18th, planning to spend three weeks acclimatizing before going up the Cesen Route. The pair climbed up to C2 and spent the night acclimatizing and were descending back to BC at the time of Fait's accident. C2 is located at 20,000 feet while, base camp is at 16,500.

Ericsson was skiing ahead of his friend, and had apparently put a good distance between them when Fait lost his edge on a patch of ice, which sent him tumbling down the 3000 foot face. By the time that Ericcson arrived at the body, some 20 minutes later, Fait was already dead. Ericcson and one of the guides secured Fait's body on the mountain, then returned the next day with eight others, to hold a ceremony for their friend. They then buried the body not far from where he fell.

Most of this was already known, but as the story points out, Ericcson has stopped sending dispatches from Pakistan, and has reportedly left the mountain. Few could blame him of course, and he is likely still grieving for the loss of his friend, and not ready to speak of it publicly yet.

One person who has posted his thoughts is climber Sean Wisedale, who wrote about it on his blog. You can find the two pertinent posts here and here. In the first post, Sean breaks the news of Michele's fall, and in the second he talks about the solemn ceremony that they performed.

Lets hope this is the only fatality on the "Savage Mountain" this season.

I've been hearing about this climbing group for awhile now, but Backpacker has confirmed that eight blind climbers, along with their 17 guides, reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last week. The team topped out on the 29th of June and in doing so, set two new records on the mountain, the most blind climbers at the summit at once and the youngest blind summitteer ever in the form of 13-year old Max Ashton.

The entire group was climbing as part of the See Kili Our Way organization, which is raising funds and awareness for programs designed to aid visually impaired babies. On the site, you'll find more information about the climbers, photos from the climb and their preparation hikes, and a blog that chronicles their exploits.

The team is back in the states already and were featured in video for Good Morning Arizona just yesterday. To check out their story and learn more about the mountaineers and their cause, click here to watch the video.

Very cool and inspirational story.