Radio Suomi, YLE understood the historic meaning and magnitude of Veikka’s 8K project. The Mikael Jungner lead YLE and it’s Finnish National Radio Suomi covered the last year’s Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak summits and Gasherbrum I’s try out. … and the whole this year’s  project’s Grand Finale. Kirsi Väänänen and her team had their eyes open. Thank you.

The other Finnish media did not have a clue what was going on. If there is not a bouncing ball, puck or a set of squealing wheels included, of course the understanding of a reporter is challenged and knowledge is equivalent to sack of potatoes. Historic moments can pass you by unnoticed, pathetic.

Veikka was a celebrated and honored quest at Radio Suomi, YLE. A mountain climber’s cake for starters. “There was a lot snow on G1, but I was never buried in it as this climber is”, laughed Veikka.

Roses of course.

Present from a fan. Warm husky socks hit the spot.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/07/radio-suomi-yle-understood/feed/ 0 tammisuo 82.4162 0.84 22.48EC 57.3D9E http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/07/a-few-points-from-veikkas-interview-on-yle/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/07/a-few-points-from-veikkas-interview-on-yle/#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:21:04 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3856 ]]> Veikka came to the YLE interview looking very slim, he had lost 8kg while climbing Gasherbrum 1 and also hiking  back from BC through Baltoro to Askole in 2½ days took it’s toll. They started hiking at 3 o’clock everyday and did 15h days.

Photo courtesy of Haglöfs

“It’s good to be back home. Somehow, after traveling and being abroad again, as I come back to home country I appreciate it more. Finland is cubby birds nest compared to some more or less unstable countries as Pakistan.”

“It feels good after the 8K project is done and finished. I feel as I was free, free to target and concentrate to something else. That does not mean that I leave climbing, but I want look other options, do other work. I really won’t miss and need the dangers and risks of  8K mountain climbing.”

VEIKKA´S 8000 METERS CLIMBING CV.

“Climbing the 8000ers was as it was my PhD”, Veikka @ YLE interview.

Notable ascents in the Himalayas:

• Mount Everest (8846m), Spring 93 (with oxygen)
• Pik Kommunisma (7495m) and Pik Korsenevskaja (7105m), Spring 93.
• Dhaulagiri (8167m), Autumn 93.
• K2 (8611m) Summer 94, Abruzzi ridge.
• Lhotse (8501m), Spring 95,
• Makalu (8483m), Spring 95, alpine.
• Pik Korsenevskaja (7105m),Pik Kommunisma (7495m) 36 hours up and down, Autumn 95.
• Mount Everest (8846m), Spring 96. Reached 8600 metres.
• Mount Everest (8846m), Spring 97. First Finn to the summit without extra oxygen.
• Broad Peak (8047m), Summer 97. To the false summit.
• Dhaulagiri (8167m), Spring 98. Reached 7500 m.
• Manaslu (8163 m), Spring 99.
• Dhaulagiri (8167m), Spring 99.
• Annapurna (8091 m), 2000. The top wasn´t reached.
• Shishapangma (8046 m), Spring 2001
• Nanga Parbat (8125 m), Spring 2001
• Annapurna (8091 m), 2002. Reached 7300 m.
• Kangchenjunga, spring 2003. Reached 7300m.
• Mount Everest 2004. Universal filming project.
• Cho Oyu and Annapurna, (8210 m, 8091 m) spring 2005
• Kanchenjunga (8586 m) , spring 2006
• Gasherbrum 2 (8035 m), summer 2008
• Gasherbrum 1 (8068 m), summer 2008. Reached 50m from the top
• Broad Peak (8047 m), summer 2008.
• Gasherbrum 1 (8068 m), summer 2009.

Other notable ascents:

• Mount Vinson (5140m) and Mount Shinn, Winter 96. Mount Vinson is the highest peak on Antarctica. “Not the highest, not the most difficult but the coldest”.
• 4 first-time conquests in Antartica, Winter 97. Two of the peaks were previously unnamed. Ascent of Mount Gardner (4587m). One of the peaks was named Mount Sisu

CV courtesy of Häglöfs

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/07/a-few-points-from-veikkas-interview-on-yle/feed/ 0 tammisuo veikka http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/06/veikka-has-arrived-to-finland/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/08/06/veikka-has-arrived-to-finland/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:17:43 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3846 ]]>

Kirsi Väänänen interviews Veikka in Finnish on Suomen Radio (Radio Suomi, YLE) on 07.08.2009 friday afternoon at 13.06-13.30.

Veikka & Kazuya at Alpine Club of Pakistan headquarters in Islamabad (Photo courtesy of ExWeb/Pakistan’s Karrar Haidri)

Veikka and Kazuya saw ExWeb-Pakistan’s Karrar Hidri at ACP’s headquarters in Islamabad. Veikka told as heard before that he’ll return to Karakoram beautiful valleys and region as a trekker – not as a mountain climber.

“Veikka had appraisal words for his expedition outfitter ATP and BC crew, while he showed concernes about increasing pollution in the Baltoro area.” (ExWeb)

Kazuya Hiraide met Veikka first time as they teamed up to climb GII and Broad Peak last year. Kazuya visited Veikka in Finland before this year’s Gasherbrum expedition. His objective is not to climb the 14×8000ers.

Summit video of Bulgarian G1 2009 Expedition

There is a very happy man on the summit of G1

Courtesy of climbingguidebg.com

Veikka’s homecoming is a major event.  Veikka, on the other hand, might have an idea of a quiet entry, which is very understandable.  He has kept it very quiet and is being very secretive when he is coming back. I think there might be people and friends who would like to honor  and show respect to his work by coming to Helsinki Airport to meet him.

Arrival schedule

Let’s presume Veikka keeps his usual ways and schedule and wants to come back as soon as possible. Hypothetically he could have left BC on Wednesday and hiked Baltoro valley in few days down to Askole. If I remember correctly he walked Baltoro in two days last year. The porters who bring the gear is only limiting factor when time is concerned. The earliest possible scene could be: By now on Friday, he could already be on his way in a Jeep to Skardu, on Saturday he could be flying out Skardu to Islamabad and on Sunday on to Helsinki. Or if someone would be in an extreme hurry and luckily relay the flights one could step on Finnish soil on Saturday.

I never bet, but if I would I would put my money on Monday, just hypothetically.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/31/the-return-of-the-king/feed/ 0 tammisuo http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/30/time-to-move-on/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/30/time-to-move-on/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:01:36 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/time-to-move-on/ ]]> The 8K project has been playing a major role and has been in the center of Veikka’s life for all his adulthood, for 17 years. Sounds as the 14 8000ers have been climbed, it’s a really a relief for him. That also shows how much just one 8000m mountain takes effort, time, energy and preparation to climb, but 14 of them is a huge project.
Now it time to let go and move on. Again it sounds that Veikka is very excited to aim for new targets, where ever they’ll be. Africa perhaps? Yesterdays dinner party at BC and also many other rituals will be parts of the process a person must go through to leave something behind and plan for new ones.

Veikka and Kazuya have safely descented to Gasherbrum Base Camp. “Just said to Kazuya, that now this mountain has been climbed, it’s done and over,” Veikka told in the dispatch. “17 years of freezing wind and glacier conditions, -now that’s done and finished. It’s time to move on.”

Veikka and Kazuya just got back to BC. They brought everything back on one load. Backpacks were like apartment buildings. Naturally they want to go home asap. Veikka called and ordered 15 porters, they should arrive in 3-4 days.

Veikka keeps dispatching daily all that time he spends in Pakistan.

Abseiling down Japanese Couloir (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson).

As I understand, the whole joint climbing team has decided to rest at C3. It has been a long day.

Avalanche risk for descent, it’s snowing

The weather tomorrow should be “alright” descent to BC. They’ll have the 1000m exposed Japanese Couloir to descent tomorrow, but the winds are max 37 km/h.

Gasherbrums, 8068m 35.72N 76.7E

	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	26 Jul	27 Jul	28 Jul	29 Jul	30 Jul	31 Jul	01 Aug
Max. Temp.	-15°C	-15°C	-16°C	-17°C	-18°C	-18°C	-17°C
Min. Temp.	-17°C	-17°C	-18°C	-19°C	-21°C	-21°C	-18°C
Freezing level	5626 m	5775 m	5527 m	5370 m	5421 m	5497 m	5607 m
Wind dir.	312°	279°	257°	267°	267°	264°	276°
Max. wind	20km/h	37km/h	53km/h	56km/h	42km/h	23km/h	34km/h
Average wind	10km/h	22km/h	36km/h	45km/h	26km/h	15km/h	26km/h
Max. RH	63%	24%	65%	48%	55%	72%	49%
Average RH	49%	13%	34%	30%	40%	40%	33%
Precipitation	2mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	1mm	0mm	0mm
snow, rain	2cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	1cm	0cm	0cm

“It’s a great day!”

“The weather was perfect, no wind at the top of the mountain. You could see all the Karakoram from the top. ” They started climbing at 00.30 and reached the summit at around 8 o’clock. The joint climbing team worked well together (V&K and Bulgarians) “With sisu and hard trying, and by not ever giving up you can accomplish set objectives.” “Thanks for everyone who have help in this project. The world is great!!!”, said Veikka, being obviously extremely happy on the mountain of Gasherbrum 1. They still have a long way down to BC.

Champagne Moment!

Photo courtesy of Veikka

Bulgarian climbers Nikolay Petkov, Doychin Boyanov, Boyan Petrov, Nikolay Valkov summited as well (Veikka’s report and k2climb Peter Atanasov told ExplorersWeb later today.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/26/veikka-gustafsson-sent-all-14-8000ers/feed/ 7 tammisuo 46.367A http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/26/3/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/26/3/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:22:46 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3703 ]]> Climbers who have reached the summit of all 14 eight-thousanders

Field 0₂ lists people who have peaked all 14 without bottled oxygen.

Order accomplished	All without O2 (order)	Name	Period	born	at age	Nationality
1	1	Reinhold Messner	1970-1986	1944	42	Italian
2		Jerzy Kukuczka	1979-1987	1948	39	Polish
3	2	Erhard Loretan	1982-1995	1959	36	Swiss
4		Carlos Carsolio	1985-1996	1962	33	Mexican
5		Krzysztof Wielicki	1980-1996	1950	46	Polish
6	3	Juanito Oiarzabal	1985-1999	1956	43	Spanish
7		Sergio Martini	1983-2000	1949	51	Italian
8		Young Seok Park	1993-2001	1963	38	Korean
9		Hong Gil Um	1988-2001	1960[6]	40	Korean
10	4	Alberto Iñurrategi	1991-2002[7]	1968	33	Spanish
11		Wang Yong Han	1994-2003	1966	37	Korean
12	5[8]	Ed Viesturs	1989-2005	1959	46	American
13	6[9][10][11]	Silvio Mondinelli	1993-2007	1958	49	Italian
14	7[12]	Ivan Vallejo	1997-2008	1959	49	Ecuador
15	8 [13]	Denis Urubko	2000-2009	1973	35	Kazakhstan
16		Ralf Dujmovits	1990-2009	1961[14]	47	German
17	9	Veikka Gustafsson	1993-2009	1968	41	Finnish

List: Courtesy of himalman.wordpress.com and wikipedia

Veikka Gustafsson and Kazuya Hiraide are set at Camp 3, at 7100m. The weather conditions being not as good as expected, they took a late start today, but it was still a cold climb up to the Camp 3. Strenuous steep route, which had deep snow and steep technical rock climbing sections. They got help from Bulgarians. The climbers are Nikolay Petkov, Doychin Boyanov, Boyan Petrov, Nikolay Valkov. The strong Bulgarian team opened the route in deep snow, which was a great help, a big thanks to them!

Veikka thinks that by joining forces, helping each other they will have a good chance to summit tomorrow. There were still strong gusts of maximum winds, which should (again) become easier for tomorrow, if the forecasts (hopefully) will hold up.

Tomorrow, they’ll strike at midnight.

Sunday 26.7.2009 will be a historical day for Finnish and the whole Scandinavian mountain climbing.

Veikka and Kazuya had a very peaceful night, no disturbing storms. Well rested, they are climbing 1000m Japanese Couloir to Camp 3.

The summit attempt has been moved to Sunday, for perfect summit weather.

Next dispatch later this afternoon, from C3.

There are two other G1 teams on summit push at the same time (k2climb). Czech Marek Holecek and Zdenek Hruby are attempting to open a new route. Another four member group is on the normal route, – Korean Oh Eun-sun’s team?

There’s a huge race going on in the climbing world, – who will be the first female climber in the world to reach the summit of all 14 8000m peaks? Conquering 8K mountains is always hard, but doing it by a schedule or in as a race seems add risks and to take it’s toll especially this season.

Gasherbrums, 8068m 35.72N 76.7E (25.7.2009)

	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
	25 Jul	26 Jul	27 Jul	28 Jul	29 Jul	30 Jul	31 Jul
Max. Temp.	-15°C	-15°C	-15°C	-16°C	-17°C	-18°C	-20°C
Min. Temp.	-18°C	-17°C	-16°C	-18°C	-19°C	-21°C	-21°C
Freezing level	5608 m	5769 m	5812 m	5586 m	5400 m	5404 m	5470 m
Wind dir.	266°	292°	274°	258°	264°	265°	284°
Max. wind	35km/h	17km/h	30km/h	53km/h	55km/h	48km/h	31km/h
Average wind	21km/h	12km/h	18km/h	34km/h	41km/h	32km/h	22km/h
Max. RH	88%	51%	47%	38%	53%	62%	57%
Average RH	61%	39%	32%	27%	28%	39%	34%
Precipitation	1mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	0mm
snow, rain	1cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	0cm

The Champagne Moment might be pushed to Sunday, … but also Saturday is possible summit day. A true  “savolainen” (The Big East of Finland) problem  . The forecast predicts the best summit weather for Sunday.

My opinion is that Veikka and Kazuya will summit when ever they want, the weather can not turn that bad within these predictions. They will push it to the limit (within the climbing safety standards), if that’s what it takes. They will do what ever is necessary to finish Veikka’s 8K project. (Because I believe that Veikka has totally different ideas where he wants to spend the next 10-20 years, it’s definitely not on the  extreme dangers of 8K mountains, faraway from home.)

Gasherbrums, photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Yesterday’s continued snow storm kept Veikka and Kazuya at high Camp 2. Last night the tent had a maximum snowstorm and wind test. The seams of the tent took the packed snow and storming winds well. Veikka And Kazuya didn’t get much sleep in the storm, but they tried to rest as they could in a shaking  and flapping tent. They had to do regular “snowplowing” to keep the tent door open from packing snow. In the morning the only way was up from the tent. It was buried in snow as expected.

Winds died down to avg. 50 km/h and first rays of sun hit the tent. They’ll head to Camp 3 packed extremely light. No sleep up there, just getting ready to summit, tanking up fluids and energy. They’ll take off for the summit attempt at midnight.

No worries mate, says Veikka, everything is going well.

One thing changes, Veikka  has decided to get a new cozy and comfy bed as he gets home. Almost 20 years of tent mattress residency is enough.

Fixed ropes, photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Change in forecast, Gasherbrums, 8068m 35.72N 76.7E

It’s snowing on saturday, avalanche risk increases.

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu
	24 Jul	25 Jul	26 Jul	27 Jul	28 Jul	29 Jul	30 Jul
Max. Temp.	-15°C	-15°C	-15°C	-15°C	-16°C	-16°C	-18°C
Min. Temp.	-18°C	-17°C	-17°C	-17°C	-17°C	-19°C	-21°C
Freezing level	5582 m	5691 m	5706 m	5854 m	5638 m	5437 m	5500 m
Wind dir.	249°	266°	327°	264°	253°	262°	257°
Max. wind	67km/h	38km/h	21km/h	33km/h	58km/h	62km/h	24km/h
Average wind	49km/h	20km/h	10km/h	20km/h	36km/h	41km/h	13km/h
Max. RH	90%	61%	75%	63%	64%	58%	66%
Average RH	55%	42%	53%	40%	39%	29%	44%
Precipitation	0mm	1mm	2mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	1mm
snow, rain	0cm	1cm	2cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	1cm

Kazuya pushes on, photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

If the wind slows down, Veikka and Kazuya will hit Japanese Couloir in the morning. JC is an airy, real technical mountain climbing section of the route. As there’s no one else ahead on the route, there should only be the natural and normal rock, snow and ice fall dangers.

Everything is OK. Things go normally and as planned. You can almost hear them saying:  I feel good, – better than James Brown.

G1, photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Veikka and Kazuya were on their way to the Camp 1. It was snowing,  there was only 20m visibility. They planned to start climbing early in the morning, but the heavy snowfall delayed their take off. They met decenting Iranian GII summiteers. The track Iranians left behind helped Veikka & Kazuya to speed up their pace to C1. They’ll continue tomorrow to the Camp 2. The weather should clear up.

A climber from Spain might be missing. He was at the summit push at the same time with the Iranians. He hasn’t been seen after summit.

Added 24.7.2009: Gasherbrum II: No hopes left for missing Luis M. Barbero

Gasherbrums, photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson.

Gasherbrums, 8068m 35.72N 76.7E

	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
	22 Jul	23 Jul	24 Jul	25 Jul	26 Jul	27 Jul	28 Jul
Max. Temp.	-18°C	-16°C	-16°C	-16°C	-16°C	-17°C	-19°C
Min. Temp.	-19°C	-18°C	-17°C	-17°C	-18°C	-19°C	-21°C
Freezing level	5443 m	5460 m	5649 m	5763 m	5709 m	5432 m	5301 m
Wind dir.	241°	250°	254°	262°	267°	265°	264°
Max. wind	59km/h	64km/h	49km/h	35km/h	36km/h	53km/h	55km/h
Average wind	49km/h	52km/h	40km/h	21km/h	18km/h	44km/h	44km/h
Max. RH	97%	97%	68%	55%	49%	51%	80%
Average RH	78%	69%	57%	39%	38%	29%	42%
Precipitation	0mm	1mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	1mm	0mm
snow, rain	0cm	1cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	1cm	0cm

-

The latest forecast Veikka and Kazuya received predicts the best summit weather for three day period during the upcoming weekend. Saturday seems to be the best possible window for summit, because of low wind speeds at the high altitude.

“The Last of the Mohicans”, not too many teams left. (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson)

Summit schedule

1. Tomorrow, wednesday morning  => Camp 1
2. Thursday => Camp 2
3. Friday => Camp 3
4. Saturday => Summit of Gasherbrum 1
   
5. Safe Decent to BC
6. Sleep 15 hrs
7. Feel good

16 years of hard work on the 8000m mountains will culminate on saturday for Veikka. The Spirits are bound to run high!

News

Tehran and Sarab expeditions from Iran reached GII’s summit yesterday around 13:45 pm (k2climb.net).

No visual of the Iranian climbers at G2. Veikka & Kazuya climbed 500m to an altitude that they could see the route and the summit of Gasherbrum 2, but they could not see the climbers from there at the time. Their decent  might take a day or two. Veikka & Kazuya saw signs of very high wind speeds at the top of G2.

Forecast for Gasherbrums, 8068m

Possible snowfall on thursday

	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon
	21 Jul	22 Jul	23 Jul	24 Jul	25 Jul	26 Jul	27 Jul
Max. Temp.	-16°C	-17°C	-16°C	-15°C	-16°C	-16°C	-16°C
Min. Temp.	-19°C	-18°C	-17°C	-17°C	-17°C	-17°C	-18°C
Freezing level	5421 m	5465 m	5386 m	5693 m	5790 m	5746 m	5501 m
Wind dir.	249°	246°	250°	258°	258°	282°	277°
Max. wind	59km/h	57km/h	54km/h	44km/h	38km/h	36km/h	47km/h
Average wind	47km/h	49km/h	45km/h	35km/h	26km/h	21km/h	39km/h
Max. RH	63%	99%	100%	84%	56%	49%	37%
Average RH	28%	90%	83%	64%	42%	36%	18%
Precipitation	0mm	1mm	4mm	0mm	0mm	0mm	0mm
snow, rain	0cm	1cm	3cm	0cm	0cm	0cm	0cm

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/21/tomorrow-to-camp-1/feed/ 0 tammisuo 0.522 http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/20/getting-ready-to-summit-g1/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/20/getting-ready-to-summit-g1/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:28:31 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3573 ]]> Veikka and Kazuya are still at base camp.They are getting ready as the weather is changing for better.

Japanese couloir has been fixed. Big thanks for climbers who made the route safe. The fixed ropes will speed up the climbing.

News

1. There might have been a successful summit on G2 by climbers from Iran.
2. Broad Peak: Aa rescue of climbers. Cristina Castagna fell to her death while descending from camp 4 on sarturday. 31 years old Cristina Castagna had previously summited Shisha’s central summit (2004), GII (2005), Dhaulagiri (2007) and Makalu (2008) (k2climb.net). More: Tragedy on Broad Peak. No summits reported.

and Himalman’s Webblog

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/20/getting-ready-to-summit-g1/feed/ 0 tammisuo http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/17/waiting-for-veikkas-dispatch/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/17/waiting-for-veikkas-dispatch/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:09:08 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3545 ]]> Veikka’s dispatch, 17.7.2009

Some of the teams are on the route. They have decided to try climbing to higher camps, to summit attempt zone, despite of the strong winds. Bulgarians and also Spaniards are on their way to the summit of Gasherbrum 1.

Veikka and Kazuya remain calm and are still waiting for a safer climbing weather at the base camp.  Jet streams and maximum gusts of  high speed winds calm down a bit next week. Possible summit attempt on wednesday.

The experienced climbers do not need and never relay on luck, … but still, best of luck and safe decisions!

Veikka’s next dispatch on monday.

The high speed mountain winds have tackled many teams to give up the summit attemps this season. No wonder they are deserting the Karakoram mountains. (Photo courtesy of Don Bowie’s website).

Teams aborting the BC. Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson.

The Team is taking it easy and just relaxing at the Gasherbrum base camp. Veikka & Kazuya are just waiting  for the right climbing weather. Watching the forecasts, predictions from different sources, – and the actual sky. The sky has been clear, except above 8000m Gasherbrums, they are surrounded by big clowds.

A bunch of international climbing teams are forced to leave Karakoram (K2, G2, etc.), because of the delayed good weather and more so because of climbing permits are running out of time.

Yesterday there was 15 cm new snow on the base camp in the morning, but no more in the afternoon, it was all melted by then.

The dinner is served, …

… and The Chefs who make it all possible, – everyday.

-

-

-

Veikka’s dispatch, 14.7.2009

The Petzl ice axes and crampons will be on the front of the tent for a long time before a take off for a summit  attempt (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson).

Kazuya Hiraide can take off his down suit in the BC (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson).

It might be a while before Veikka and Kazuya will start the final summit push. They want a solid and sure forecast for a longer period of good weather before they take off again for the summit attempt. That might take a week or more. The mountain will wait, it won’t go anywhere. This weather will recharge both, the samurai and finnish sisu attitude.

Gasherbrums, 8068m 35.72N 76.7E

	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon
	14 Jul	15 Jul	16 Jul	17 Jul	18 Jul	19 Jul	20 Jul
Max. Temp.	-20°C	-16°C	-14°C	-16°C	-15°C	-15°C	-16°C
Min. Temp.	-23°C	-20°C	-17°C	-17°C	-17°C	-16°C	-18°C
Freezing level	4933 m	5068 m	5228 m	5293 m	5470 m	5494 m	5436 m
Wind dir.	245°	284°	270°	267°	271°	270°	254°
Max. wind	81km/h	48km/h	64km/h	62km/h	53km/h	56km/h	68km/h
Average wind	52km/h	41km/h	50km/h	45km/h	46km/h	49km/h	57km/h
Max. RH	90%	20%	37%	31%	18%	13%	49%
Average RH	62%	6%	16%	15%	8%	5%	27%
Precipitation	4mm	0mm	1mm	3mm	0mm	0mm	0mm
snow, rain	3cm	0cm	1cm	2cm	0cm	0cm	0cm

Veikka and Kazuya started a summit attempt 6 o’clock on saturday. They climbed 4 hours up to Camp 1. Slept 14 hours. Continued  pushing forward on sunday on to Camp 2, to 6400m.

They faced a snow storm and strong winds at 3 o’clock this morning. They had to reverse back for safety reasons.  They could have stayed at 6400m in a snow cave and wait for the storm to pass, but there would have still been the risk of avalanches on the route on the way up and down. There was also a prediction of 100km/h winds at the altitude of the Camp 2 and higher speeds above it.

Leader on the Japanese Couloir. (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson).

There were no one else on the Japanese Couloir at the same time. Now they are in the safety of the base camp. They got back very tired from the fast retrieve from high altitudes. For the next summit push Veikka and Kazuya want a good solid weather forecast, which haven’t been accurate lately. They saw climbers backing down from G2 also.

Veikka and Kazuya plan and prepare for summit push. If weather permits, they’ll take off for high Camps during the weekend. There is a predicted snow fall on monday, but it looks ok on the tentative summit day, on tueday. They’ll have the same schedule as Philippe Gatta on G2 (http://karakoram09.over-blog.com/). On snow day (monday) they should be at Camp 3, … and according to Veikka the mountain is fairly clean of snow on altitudes above 6500m. So they’ll pass through avalance risk areas on their way down to BC.

According to the Canadian Ski Patrol pro, there’s an avalanche risk. This has been assessed on G2: The experts decided that the conditions required a few more days to consolidate (http://www.altitudejunkies.com).

Camp 3 is set and secured for high speed winds. (Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson).

Veikka and Kazuya are resting and recovering at Gasherbrum base camp. They are enjoying the warmth of the sun in shorts after five days of hard climbing in strong winds and the cold weather of the upper camps.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/09/veikka-gustafsson-and-kazuya-hiraide-at-gasherbrum-base-camp-2/feed/ 0 tammisuo http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/08/veikka-and-kazuya-after-6700m-at-bc/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/08/veikka-and-kazuya-after-6700m-at-bc/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:26:51 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3443 ]]> Veikka’s dispatch, 8.7.2009

Veikka and Kazuya climbed up to the 6700m. After preparing Camp 3, checking and planning the up coming route to the summit, they turned down and returned to the Camps 2 and 1 & so on to the BC.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

After that a quick return to the Gasherbrum base camp for “recovery, refuel and recharging”. After 3-4 days of R&R they’ll prepare for the summit attempt, if the weather allows it.

They are fast, – “fast and furious”.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

It’s between snow fall  and sunshine. They have done long days, but everything has gone very well.  Both are acclimatizing to higher altitudes extremely well. They want to climb and acclimatize 400m higher tomorrow. After that they are coming straight back to the base camp to fill up energy, get some equipment, recharge batteries & the fighting spirit. After recharging they will be ready for the summit attempt, – spirits are bound to run high!

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Veikka said that there is a lot more snow than last year, up to ½m snow down at the valley and on the way to high camps. There is less snow at higher altitudes above C2. It seems that they are the first up on the route this year.

Leading the the Japanese Couloir. (Photo courtesy of Katja Staartjes/Dutch Gasherbrum Expedition 2004)

Forecast for Gasherbrum I

Tomorrow 08/07/2009 Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Thursday 09/07/2009 Partly cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0.9 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Friday 10/07/2009 Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 1.4 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Saturday 11/07/2009 Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Photo courtesy of k2news.com

It was a clear day, but Veikka and Kazuya faced a snow storm. Heavy snow fall and strong winds  stopped them on a way to the Camp 2.  It’s total white out, only 20m visibility, mountain was not safe anymore. So they camped were ever possible. Camp 1 was built on saturday, despite the weather wasn’t perfect. It snowed, but for a finn, that’s not a problem, “an average winter day in Finland”, but now in totally different, risky environment and extreme high altitude.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

They were building route to Camp 2, trying to solve a problem with ice fall and a field full of crevasses, but the storm stopped them. They’ll wait out the storm in a tent. Tomorrow they are heading to Camp 2 and on, higher altitudes. If the weather allows it. They’ll return to rest, recover and to energize to BC before summit attempt.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Gasherbrum I is the Hidden Peak from the Pakistan direction, it is hidden behind G IV in front of it on the right. From left to right; Gasherbrums IV, III, II, V, VI, I. Photo courtesy of www.summitpost.org

“The waiting is the hardest part …”, it just adds the psychological stress factors.

The weather has proven many forecasts wrong for many frustrated climbing groups at the Gasherbrums: “The predicted good days produced snow and the bad days produced sun”.

Avalaches on the Gasherbrums. The avalanche risks increase with heavy snow fall and warm temperatures. Photo credit Veikka gustafsson.

Forecast predicts very unstable weather between sun shine and heavy snow. Tomorrow might be sunny in the morning, but prediction is that it starts to snow again in the afternoon. It also seems to snow during the tonight.

Very risky climbing weather, very hard decisions for the climbing team.

Latest forecast for Gasherbrum I at 18.28 on Friday 03.04.2009

Morning 05:00 – 11:00

Partly cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0 mm precipitation.

Midday 11:00 – 17:00

Snow showers. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0.4 mm precipitation.

Night 17:00 – 23:00

Snow. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0.3 mm precipitation.

Morning 05:00 – 11:00

Partly cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation.

Midday 11:00 – 17:00

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation.

Night 17:00 – 23:00

Partly cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0 mm precipitation.

Morning 05:00 – 11:00

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation.

Midday 11:00 – 17:00

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation.

Night 17:00 – 23:00

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation.

Tomorrow
03/07/2009

Snow. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 2.5 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Saturday
04/07/2009

Snow. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 1.4 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Sunday
05/07/2009

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 0.4 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Monday
06/07/2009

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0.3 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Tuesday
07/07/2009

Partly cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Wednesday
08/07/2009

Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Thursday
09/07/2009

Cloudy. Light air, 1 m/s from south. 1.0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Friday
10/07/

Snow. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 5 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Saturday 11/07/2009 Fair. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest. 2.8 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/02/forecast-for-gasherbrum-i/feed/ 0 tammisuo Snow Light air, 1 m/s from south Snow Light air, 1 m/s from south Fair Light air, 1 m/s from south Fair Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest Partly cloudy Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest Fair Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest Cloudy Light air, 1 m/s from south Snow Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest Fair Light air, 1 m/s from south-southwest http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/02/ready-for-the-camp-1/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/07/02/ready-for-the-camp-1/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:25:30 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3329 ]]> Despite of the forecast, sun is shining today at base camp of Gasherbrum. Veikka and Kazuya are packing for acclimatization climb to Camp 1 to 6000m. They will start climbing at 4 o’clock tomorrow morning. Sun shine makes it possible to recharge batteries for phones and other electric devises. Hopefully tomorrow’s dispatch comes  from the Camp 1.

The increasing challenges in mountain climbing correlate directly to unstable weather as snow fall, sudden temperature changes, which can cause avalanches, falling stones and blocks of ice, stormy winds, extreme low temperatures. Other risks include crevasses and altitude sickness, etc.

Veikka and Kazuya have to wait for the weather to change. (Photo courtesy of Veikka gustafsson)

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Veikka and Kazuya start their acclimatization for higher altitude by preparing the route to the high camp 1 (~6000m) in few days, depending on the weather and how heavy the snow fall is. Long term forecast predicts heavier snow fall for tonight, but not for tomorrow. There will be snow again on friday and saturday. After that it is perfect weather till  next week’s thursday and friday, when it is cloudy, but only minimum of snow fall. So actually the weather will be ok for climbing, but it all depends on the temperature and the amount of the snow fall. Heavy snow fall and sudden changes in warming temparatures increase the possibility of life threatening avalanches.

Kazuya has a good taste for magazines and also you can see that he has learned finnish while visiting Veikka this spring in Finland. Photo credit Veikka Gustafsson.

About glaciers

Pawel Michalski summited  Gasherbrum 1 on 30.07.2007

On July 30th 2007 Alex Gavan (Romania) at the summit of Gasherbrum 1, 8068m

Reinhold Messner receives a massage and talks about the dangers of Gasherbrum I

1998 three of the danish key2adventure expedition summited G1

Veikka Gustafsson and Kazuya Hiraide arrived at Gasherbrum base camp with 30 porters.  A bit beat after long trek at the high altitude, but happy to be at the base of Gasherbrums.

Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

They have camped on the moraine on the glacier. Their tents are the closest to the Pakistan army base. Four tents, Veikka’s, Kazuya’s, “ware house”, kitchen (and crevasse wc & shower) tents.

Kazuya at the camp, happy to have all the gear with them. Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson

Next it is 2-3 days of recovery and then depending on the weather, they’ll start the acclimation to the higher altitudes as they are making route to the upper camps 1, 2 & 3. The expected summit push earliest in three weeks, depending on the weather.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/06/30/veikka-gustafsson-and-kazuya-hiraide-at-gasherbrum-base-camp/feed/ 0 tammisuo http://tammisuo.fi/2009/06/30/kazuya-hiraide-is-documenting-the-8k-project/ http://tammisuo.fi/2009/06/30/kazuya-hiraide-is-documenting-the-8k-project/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:31:40 +0000 Jukka Tammisuo http://tammisuo.wordpress.com/?p=3269 ]]> World class high altitude mountain climber Kazuya Hiraide is documenting the final summit of Veikka Gustafsson’s 8K project on video. We have already seen his high quality climbing videos from the last year’s climbs with Hirotaka Takeuchi at the Karakoram region on the Gasherbrum 1 & 2 and also on the Broad Peak.

Veikka and Kazuya with a camera on Baltoro. Photo courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson, 2009.

The sights at the Concordia are  unbelievable, it’s been said that trekking at the heart of Karakoram is as you would walk through heaven.

Panorama from Concordia

About the route, they are shooting for Japanese couloir, which is an airy and technical route, true climbing, … at extreme high altitude!

(Photo: Veikka Gustafsson)

Video credit Kazuya Hiraide, from last year’s 2008 Gasherbrum 2 ascent, which was emotional for Hirotaka Takeuchi for many reasons.

A stardard Camp site at Baltoro valley, before glaciers. (Photo credit: Alessandro Gogna)

A bit different view this time of the year in Finland (Photo credit: k3photo.com)

Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks

Baltoro glacier, photo credit: Ahmad Abdul-Karim

First they’ll have to make it to Paiju, where the  over 70km long Baltoro glacier starts. It’s the largest glacier in the world outside polar glaciers.

Like all the glaciers in the world, also Baltoro suffers from global warming. Photo credit: Ahmad Abdul-Karim.

Climbing schedule for G1, used by the Pakistan Culture & Adventure Guides

Day 01: Arrive Islamabad . Transfer to Hotel. Inspection of food & equipment. Overnight in Hotel.

Day 02: Documentation & briefing at Ministry of Tourism. Local chores & packing. Overnight in Hotel.

Day 03: Fly to Skardu by weather permitting flight or drive to Chilas, if unable to fly (490 km). In Hotel.

Day 04: Local chores in Skardu or complete road journey (275 km), if unable to fly yesterday. In Hotel.

Day 05: Drive to Askole by jeep (7hrs, 3000m). Hire porters, distribute loads. Overnight in camp.

Day 06-12: Trek to G-1 Base Camp. Via Korophone, Bardumal, Paiju, Liligo, Urdukas, Goro & Concordia.

Day 13-52: 40 days for climbing. Our services will be available only upto base camp. All nights in camps.

Day 53-56: Walk back to Hushe Valley via Gondogoro Pass and drive back to Skardu by jeep.

Day 57 & 58: Fly or drive to Islamabad via Chilas. Local chores in Islamabad . Overnight in Hotel.

Day 59: In Islamabad : De-briefing at Ministry of Tourism. Packing for homebound flight. Night in Hotel.

Day 60: Transfer to Islamabad airport. Fly home. End of our services.

(pakistanguides.com)

Veikka has left Skardu and he is on a Jeep, heading to Askole. He’s feelin’ great and pleased to be a way ahead of schedule (Veikka’s report on Radio Suomi, 24.6.2009). The project moves on in a fast pace at the moment. The main target is to finish the 8K project, which means to ascent the last of the 8000m mountains in the world.

]]> http://tammisuo.fi/2009/06/24/veikka-on-the-karakoram-highway/feed/ 0 tammisuo