Expert mountaineer Gregory Attard has passed the ultimate test of climbing endurance, becoming the first unassisted Maltese to reach the summit of Gasherbrum II in the Pakistani Himalayas.
At 8,034 metres, it is only the 13th highest mountain in the world. But by Himalayan standards, it is one of the most remote and arduous to approach.
The 36-year-old doctor had spent the last couple of days at the base camp of the mountain, waiting for a weather window which would enable his ascent.
His five-person team was made up of an Australian woman, a man from New Zealand and their accompanying Nepalese Sherpas (guides). Dr Attard himself, however, did not have Sherpa support.
The party departed base camp (situated at around 5,000 metres) on Friday.
The arduous process of scaling a high mountain involves first establishing a camp at the base and three or four higher camps.
All done. It’s been a very heavy but memorable day
Mountaineers will then move up, then down again, allowing their bodies to get used to the reduced oxygen content of the air and regain strength. This process is called acclimatisation.
Dr Attard reached the summit of the mountain yesterday at 4.30am (7.30am Pakistani time) after a staggering nine-and-a-half hour climb. The New Zealander and his Sherpa aborted the climb without reaching the summit, while the other two were still heading up as Dr Attard was descending to Camp 3 (situated at around 7,000 metres altitude).
Dr Attard rested briefly at Camp 3 before descending to the safer elevation of Camp 1, where he arrived yesterday at 3.30pm. Each minute spent at such high altitude progressively ravages a climber’s mind and body.
Once at Camp 1, Dr Attard texted Times of Malta: “All done. Back to the relative safety of Camp 1. It’s been a very heavy but memorable day. I haven’t had such an exhausting summit day for a while.”
The expedition, which is set to make Dr Attard become the first Maltese to consecutively conquer two 8,000-metre peaks, Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II, has been fraught with uncertainty and fear following one of the worst terrorist attacks on climbers to date.
Last month, Taliban gunmen stormed the Base Camp of Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth highest mountain, also located in Pakistan, and shot dead nine foreign trekkers and a Pakistani guide.
The day before the massacre, Dr Attard had passed by Nanga Parbat in transit.
For a while, he was mobilised in the village of Skardu, as the Pakistani government deliberated whether to withdraw all climbing permits as a safety measure. It eventually gave climbers the green light.
On Saturday, prior to his summit push, Dr Attard contacted Times of Malta via a satellite phone from Camp 3.
Sounding exhausted yet optimistic, the mountaineer explained that Gasherbrum II was proving itself to be a steeper and more technical climb than Mount Everest.
There were a lot of exposed ridges and no fixed ropes to aid the climber, who was weighed down by 27 kilos of supplies and oxygen cylinders.
“I feel safer since there’s a military presence. There is an army at the other camp, on the other side of the glacier.”
Despite the gruelling climb and descent, he is still intent on completing the double header. Today, he is expected to descend to Base Camp where he will gather his energies and await a good weather window to attempt the ascent of Gasherbrum I.
Gasherbrum I is noted as a steeper and more demanding climb than Gasherbrum II. So why did he not first begin with it, when he was still fresh?
“Since I’ve already summited, my body is fully acclimatised. That means that I won’t need to climb up and down again. It will be one straight ascent.”