Latok and Ogre peaks rise above Pakistan’s Choktoi Valley. PHOTO: EXPLORADORESWEB
A team of US-based climbers is preparing an attempt to open a new route to Baintha Brakk II, better known as Ogre II, in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan.
According to the website web browsers, Alaska’s Ethan Berkeland will be joined by recent Piolet d’Or winner August Franzen and Vitaliy Musiyenko on the expedition to the 6,960m peak.
Ogre II is visited much less frequently than upper neighbor Ogre I, which has seen several new route efforts in recent years. The report says the mountain has never been climbed alpine style.
The only successful ascent of Ogre II was made by a South Korean expedition in 1983 through the northwest buttress. The team used heavy expedition tactics, including fixed ropes and higher camps.
The South Korean climb was described as “epic,” and two climbers, Lim Deok-yong and Yoo Han-gyu, reportedly reached the summit after spending the night in an ice cave without sleeping bags or down jackets. Another member of the expedition died during the trip.
More recently, American climbers Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson died on the summit in 2016 while attempting, for the second year in a row, an alpine-style ascent of the north face. They disappeared in a storm and their bodies were never recovered.
Read: Pakistan deploys army helicopter in search of missing US climbers
Musiyenko said in a social media post that the trio intends to attempt the north face, the same line that Dempster and Adamson were attempting.
To help fund the climb, Berkeland received the first Legacy Grant, awarded by the Jess Roskelley Foundation and Lowa Sportswear.
The foundation was created in honor of Jess Roskelley, who died along with Hansjörg Auer and David Lama in an avalanche in the Canadian Rockies seven years ago. The report says this is the first year the foundation has funded a climb.
The grant aims to support “climbers who balance full-time work with bold and meaningful goals in the mountains.” Berkeland works as an engineer and maintains seismic monitoring stations for the Alaska Earthquake Center.
The team is expected to travel to the Choktoi Glacier in the Karakoram this summer.
