TRAVERSING THE GASHERBRUMS
by Per Jerberyd ©
1997 - 2002 |
In 1984, almost 10 years after the successful ascent
of Hidden Peak together with Peter Habeler, Reinhold
Messner wanted to break another border in Himalayan
climbing by making the first traverse of two 8,000-meter
mountains.
THE FIRST TRAVERSE OVER TWO 8.000 METER MOUNTAINS
Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) and II was the choice for
the traverse. - "This was a completely new idea
and one I would not have considered possible in 1975."
By this time Reinhold had turned over 40 years old and
he had realized that his endurance and will power remained
constant. His climbing partner was now Hans Kammerlander,
a personal friend that he had already climbed Cho Oyo
with.
At first, the intention was to start with Gasherbrum
I and then finish through the easier Gasherbrum II.
Though the avalanche danger on the west face of Gasherbrum
I made them to reverse the traverse and start with Gasherbrum
II. On the way to the summit of Gasherbrum II, they
passed a dead body that Reinhold also had passed in
1982, at that time being accused for "climbing
over dead bodies". No problems accrued during the
ascent and the conditions where good and they conserved
their strength well. When passing the body on the way
down, they buried the dead climber in a crevasse. Reinhold
had talked to the dead climber's family and that was
their last will. The descent from Gasherbrum was made
through a Steep hanging glacier filled with crevasses.
Hans Kammerlander: "Common sense would most certainly
have declared this forbidden territory."
The pair erected their small bivouac tent on the saddle
between Gasherbrum II and I. This was their fourth day
of climbing. They continued the next day. The glacier
with all seracs proved a real dangerous place, where
you could get killed at any time by collapsing seracs,
ice and snow.
A change in the weather had started with increasing
wind. At 7,400 meters they made another bivouac. The
wind was now a full storm and they found themselves
in a serious situation. There, in the tent, both Hans
and Reinhold suffered from hallucinations. Reinhold:
"It would have been wiser to call off our traverse
attempt, but at the same time it was obvious that we
never would never be able to get this far again, certainly
not on this trip. Perhaps never in our lifetime…"
The next morning they urged on and finally reached the
summit of Hidden Peak on 28 June. They had now succeeded
with something never done before, but the situation
was serious and they didn't linger on the top. The descent
through the sharp West Ridge was a serious task lying
ahead.
The descent proved to be extremely dangerous, close
to hell. At the end of the summit snowfield, Reinhold
took a serious fall: Hans Kammerlander: "He peeled
of backwards into space and was away. I have known people,
trained sports climbers, who in such a situation would
not have come to rest till they hit the deck. But Reinhold
was able to fling himself round in mid-air so that he
was facing downwards, and then regain his footing several
meters lower on steep, glazed rock slabs". Further
down they where close to get hit by a rock avalanche
when a large rock pillar collapsed.
On the seventh day of constantly climbing, they reached
the Gasherbrum Valley. Over stimulated with nerves stretched
to the limit, they found it impossible to sleep. Instead
they decided to descend all the way to Base Camp. A
big mistake according to Reinhold: "It was a wonder,
and more luck than judgement, that we did not tumble
into one of the many crevasses or got wiped away by
falling stones on the way down."
The whole climb took eight days of their lives.
"In my opinion,
traversing the two Gasherbrums summits ranks as one
of the hardest tours that ever been done. At the same
time stylistically, it was one of the purest climbs
made on an eight-thousander."
More about Reinhold Messner
» Reinhold
Messner - mainpage
» Reinhold
Messner - short biography
» Reinhold
Messner - Nanga Parbat 1970 and 1978
» Reinhold
Messner - the Manaslu tragedy
» Reinhold
Messner & Peter Habeler - Hidden Peak in alpine
style
» Reinhold
Messner - breaking new limits on Mount Everest
Other mountaineering stories
» Tenzing
and his moment on the summit of the world
» K2
climbing history. From the first try to the Italian
success in 1954
» Hermann
Buhl and the first ascent of Nanga Parbat
» The
first ascent of Mont Blanc anno 1786
» A
tale from Lofoten, experienced and written by Per
Jerberyd
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