Attempt on the SE Pillar of Baintha Brakk
and
New Route on Unclimbed 6000m Summit
Karakorum, Pakistan, June 1 – July 9, 2006

On June 4th, after a swift two days in Islamabad, quick flight to Skardu, 7 hour Jeep ride, and 4 day (55km) approach hike, Paul McSorley, Jon Walsh and I arrived at our 4400m basecamp on the Choktoi Gl. At this point we had in with us our guide Javed, our cook Nabi, 47 porters, and Choco the goat. Pauls luggage, including climbing gear, had gone missing during the flight and he decided after a couple days to return to Canada.

Over the next week we received a meter of new snow, which made for difficult glacier travel with knee deep postholing. After 1 week we got a break in the weather and were finally treated to commanding views of the Ogre and Latok group. The beauty and magnitude of these peaks was astounding. We began the slow process of establishing ABC at 4650m despite the still mediocre weather and difficult glacier travel. Once established we began hiking around a bit to acclimatize and scope the Ogre for the most appealing line. Although 3 possibilities were scoped, we decided on the aesthetic SE buttress rising elegantly out of the heavily guarded Ogre/Ogre 2 col and immediately began strategizing on how best to attempt our difficult and dangerous goal of summitting the dominating feature of the Choktoi Gl., Baintha Brakk - a.k.a.The Ogre (7285m).

The route consisted of a 700m rock buttress to a weakness through a hanging glacier, a 400m snow slope, a rising mixed traverse and then mixed terrain to a final rock tower. A fine looking objective indeed, although well guarded by an “approach” consisting of a 300 m icefall that required technical climbing, avalanche terrain that flushed constantly during periods of solar warming, semi active seracs, a 1 hour stretch of crevassed glacier, and a 300 m gargoyled, runnelled, avalanche prone slope that averaged about 65 degrees, all to reach the col. Basically, 700m of nastiness that was only "reasonable" to climb through at night, and starting about 5 km above ABC.

We wanted to get 2 weeks of supplies to the 5650m col to give us enough time to wait out any weather and to acclimatize and recover from the strenuous approach. We wanted to spend as little time as possible in this "approach" section to minimize the hazard. In order to do this as it turned out, we had to climb the col three times - all at night as this was the only time it was frozen and free from avalanche hazard. We used four ropes which we fixed and leap frogged. Fixing and jugging the "approach" seemed necessary for both speed and safety. The first night we went from ABC to half way up the icefall fixing ropes here and there to jug on and soloing some steep, traversing snow slopes that weren't possible to fix. We stashed some gear here, and returned to ABC for some needed sleep. The second night and part way into the next morning we made it through the icefall, and then down climbed onto the hanging glacier between Ogre and Ogre 2 before collapsing into our tent at 11 a.m. We were now at 5350m on the glacier below the ominous looking 5650m col. We tried fixing our ropes up the runnels above as soon as darkness fell that night and the snow set up enough to travel on, but it started to snow as soon as we finished the first pitch over the shrund, forcing a retreat to the tent and some much needed rest. We felt worked from the altitude, and the load humping was feeling like one of the biggest physical challenges we had ever undertaken. The next evening, we finished fixing our four ropes, shuttled two loads, and returned to the tent for another night at 5350 m. Finally, early the next morning, we made it to the 5650m col, and the "start" of the route.

We spent three days in our slopeside condo, hiding from the cold and windy weather that came and went. Lots of resting, reading, and getting acclimatized was just what we needed. After four days at the col we decided that the next day we would commit to an alpine style ascent of the buttress. That day we climbed a couple pitches, fixed our ropes for the last time, and hurried back to our comfortable abode to eat, pack, and prepare for the next day. Above us loomed the beautiful red granite that we had come for and we felt psyched and ready.

After enjoying a majestic Karakorum sunrise, we were feeling good at the altitude, and very much enjoying the elation of free climbing incredible rock and mixed pitches with two ropes in pure alpine style.
The seconder would jug with the slightly larger pack and the leader would often lead with a pack, except on the harder pitches, he would either haul it or rappel on the tag line and then jug with it. We climbed the entire 700m buttress that day all free except for a 10m bolt ladder that another party had installed, some time long ago. It was generally sustained in the 5.7 range with the cruxes being about 5.10a / M5. We wore mountain boots the entire way, mostly without crampons. The route finding was made easy by three sets of junk fixed ropes left behind from previous parties, illuminating the way.

After the granite buttress we climbed 4 rope lengths of ice and mixed terrain to reach the snow / ice traverse at 6350 m with only an hour of light left. We were ready to brew and bivy and began searching for a spot. The only suitable zone it seemed like was an abandoned portaledge, frozen into the 55 degree ice slope. The setting sun glowed deep orange in the western sky, as we used the rest of our light and energy chipping away the years of ice on the portaledge to make two mini ice shelves to lie down on. Sure enough, it was a sleepless night. I was held in place with a cordellette and ice screw anchoring my legs from sliding off. Jon spent the night curled up in a ball because everytime he would straighten his legs, he too would begin to slide off. That night we were treated to a spectacular electrical storm over Nanga Parbat.

The next morning, we carefully packed up and traversed a few hundred meters of insecure 60 degree ice and mixed terrain towards the hanging glacier. The weather was looking slightly unstable, with cloud brewing to the west. We opted to turn back because of it and the subsequent discovery of a sweet bivi on flat snow below a huge overhang. Here we brewed up, rested and prepared for a big summit push the next day.
We woke up before dawn start to clear skies although the barometer was ominously down a few points. In the distance K2, Broad Peak, The Gasherbrums, Nanga Parbat and the Latoks all glowed in the golden light and dominated our view. After a few ropelengths of insecure traversing we rounded the corner to the serac band guarding the upper snowfields. This crux was surmounted via a step over a crevasse to a one inch thick ribbon of water ice poorly adhered to the glacier polished slabs beside an overhanging serac. This treat had some nice rock moves, wires and screws for pro, and was followed by a funky overhanging tube of snow and just enough water ice, to some plastic WI3 - at 6400 meters! Definitely a winning pitch!

Next the “easy terrain” consisting of about 400m of 45 - 50 degrees, east facing snow and ice, proved to be hot, strenuous, slow, isothermic and insecure. Not to mention the altitude being a bully. After what seemed like forever,we rounded the corner onto the south side, climbed a few more relatively easy pitches with some tricky mixed moves and arrived at our high point of around 6800m at 12:30 pm. The weather window had shut down, the summit was socked in, the winds picked up, and light snow began to fall. There appeared to be two more, tricky traverse pitches that rose into the final bowl between the main and east summit. After some debate as to what to do, we rationalized that a night out in a storm at 7000m would be certain death, as we carried no tent or sleeping bags. We started descending hastily in the rapidly deteriorating weather. Twelve 70 meter rappels, mostly off v-threads, some down climbing and the traverse in reverse got us back to our bivi for our third night at 6350m.

The cloud level dropped throughout the night and light snow was blowing in under our overhang. It managed to find its way into even the smallest openings in our tightly sealed sleeping bags. At around five in the morning, we started rappelling as the tempest developed around us. Luckily for us, most anchors were fixed from previous expeditions and we only had to make four or five of our own. Unfortunately, the rappels were slightly diagonal, and angled into the winds which were pounding us with snow. Rime ice caked to our faces and it was often impossible to see. Halfway down, one of our ropes got stuck forcing us to continue with only one 70m cord, plus a small chunk we had desperately salvaged from the other. Spindrift and small avalanches became incessant and visibility was often nil, but somehow we continued, feeling the intensity of our situation.

Just before getting back to the tent the storm let up for about hour, and the sun briefly appeared. It had snowed about a foot, but we now had shelter. A good thing as we were forced to being tent bound for the rest of the day. Although the weather was still quite mixed, it was somewhat better the next day, and late in the afternoon, we made a run for it. We rappelled from v-threads and pitons through the runnels and gargoyles to the hanging glacier below. A short but intense squall blew through as we were making our last rappel, and we just made it to the glacier before a rock fall came down our descent line, in the fury of the squall. We pitched the tent and took shelter for an hour, brewed up, and waited while the weather passed. We then continued down the icefall and all the way back to ABC without further drama. The morning of June 30th, we stumbled back into BC for a few days of super sized pancake breakfasts, and killer curries.

Unfortunately, for us there was not enough time for another attempt on the Ogre. So after resting for a couple of days we turned our attention to an attractive “nunatuk” at the head of the glacier. It rose 1200m above ABC and was completed encircled by the Choktoi Glacier. On it's south side, The 2700m north walls of Latok 1, Latok 2 and Ogre 2 towered above. The east ridge of the Ogre nearly connected to its north side, creating a fine ambiance all around. Earlier in the trip, we had hiked right around this mountain / spire during a reconnaissance mission, and it was in our constant view from both ABC and the Ogre. On it's west side, a steep couloir led for 600m from the shrund to a notch, then a SE ridge of red granite rose steeply to a very pointy summit which we were fairly certain remained unclimbed. We named it Choktoi Spire for obvious reasons and set out to climb it at half past midnight on July the 5th. A short detour to a cache of gear we had stashed after getting off the Ogre, and we were soon halfway up the couloir before night faded into day. From the notch, rose 200 vertical meters of mixed terrain and steep cracks to the summit. The higher we got the steeper and better the climbing became. As luck would have it Jon got the last lead, and it was a real winner - a splitter 5.10 corner crack with fingers, hands and offwidth, that he impressively on sighted in mountain boots. At first glance we thought this crack would take us all the way, but it ended below an overhanging arete boulder problem, 10 meters shy of the summit. It seemed like we were at a dead end, but luckily, a hard won bodyweight knifeblade placement around the corner saved the pitch. A tension move, some key face holds, and a series of committing deadpoints led to a perfect horn belay on the virgin 6000m summit. Without the tensioning off the piton, it would have been at least mid 5.11 free. However, the lack of good protection and an ugly slab landing combine to make this pitch exhilarating. Rock shoes would be crucial for the send, something we had left behind on this one.

We had planned to climb the route quickly and be down the west facing couloir before the sun came around. We were about an hour too late. While descending the couloir in the early afternoon, I was hit in the head and face by a rock that came flying down the snow so fast neither of us even saw it. It impacted with a loud thud and a searing pain. It dented the brim of my helmet, split my forehead open, busted my sunglasses and broke my nose. Blood exploded everywhere as the cut was deep. I had glass in my left eye from my shattered sunglass lens making vision even more difficult. I quickly wrapped a bandana around my head to stop the blood and then hurried down the remainder of the couloir, with my one good eye, to the safety of the glacier where 8 steristrips were needed to close the head wound. Needless to say, I was very lucky and it certainly could have been much worse. We called the route "Pain is a Privilege" and graded it 5.10, A2 (only one point of aid), 800m.

The next morning, July 6th, we strolled back to base camp. Being Jons birthday, Javed and Nabi whipped up a delicious lunch complete with a nice cake. Very sweet of them! I was out of commission for the remaining 4 days on the glacier preventing us from attempting any more climbing, but Oh well, it was fun and overall it was a great trip and a good learning experience. My forehead is well on its way to recovery although I’ll a 2cm scar to remind me of our first ascent!

Jeff Relph
August 2006

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