Spantik (7027m) - Altitude, Style and Exhaustion

I was higher than I had ever been. Somewhere above 6500m on Spantik's Summit ridge. It had taken three weeks to get here. Three weeks of flying, driving, trekking, climbing and acclimatising. I had felt strong since we left Camp 2 at 5500m at around 0130 but now the altitude meant that the few steps I was taking were backed up by rests and heavy breathing. Progress was slow and I could see Messner in his hooded down jacket ahead of me. Aside from my body my mind was feeling the altitude too, playing tricks on me and polluting my concentration with confusion and playful misinformation. It was not Messner I reminded myself every so often, It was 'Jumpy' an Italian Guide from the Dolomites. This was our first ever day climbing together, we'd met barely a week ago but circumstances had brought us together. Along with instances of de-ja-vu I felt another familiar presence with us, an old woman, perhaps somebody's mother approving of our zig zagging trail through the ankle deep snow. There was a rocky section with steep snow ahead. It didn't seem to be getting closer. I kept following Jumpy's tracks, I was now too far behind to take my turn breaking trail. If he had been closer perhaps I would have told him I was going back.

Porters on the Chomolumga Glacier. Spantik top right

Some time went by with little progress. A constant struggle and the same hallucinations. Before long the icy wind provided us with a new problem and every 5-10 mins we stopped to warm our freezing hands. As time raced by we inched towards the rocky outcrop. This must be it. Just another 20 or 30m of struggle then the summit and we could go down. Eventually we surmounted the the steep section but the ridge continued upwards. I caught up with Jumpy. He said another 50m altitude to go. I tried to break trail but he overtook me. The struggle went on for so long and then we arrived. A bare plateau of snow. The fruits of an idea I had while alone in a Canazei bar over a year ago and all the planning, travelling and climbing since. I felt emotional. The pure joy that I've only experianced a few times before, when dreams are realised, when I am exactly where I know I should be.

Jumpy at around 6200m at dawn on summit day. K2 and the Ogre on the horizon

Looking back down at the SE ridge

We didn't spend long there, maybe ten minutes leaving to start the descent at 1130. The first part of the descent went well. We retraced our steps down the ridge and reached our bags on the plateau. Then we moved towards the top of the SE ridge and the normal site for Camp 3. The section between this and Camp 2 is the technical crux of the route. Andra and myself had had a bit of an epic here the following week when we tried to establish Camp 3. For most climbers this section is made safe by fixed ropes but no team had fixed it in almost a month leaving them now in an incomplete and dangerous state. Free climbing this upwards in good conditions is easy, downclimbing this while exhausted and after the midday sun has taken it's toll on the ice is a different matter.

Myself at around 6250m on summit day

Crossing the plateau between the top of the SE ridge and the summit ridge

Jumpy went on down. There wasn't much he could do for me. I methodically front pointed my way down the steep sugary ice stopping often for breaks. I toyed with the idea of making an abolocov to abseil but it wasn't practical. It would have justified carrying the rope though, it was still coiled in my sack as we had solo'd together all day. Eventually I reached easier ground beyond a bergshund and made quick progress down a snow slope then the rocky spur that runs for about 100m down the centre of the face. Beyond this the lower half of the face is more sugary ice albeit at a less serious angle than higher up. Without exhaustion I would normally make quick work of this terrain despite its poor condition. Today was different. I advanced facing down the slope and constantly struggled for my footing. The first section went ok. Starting down the next section my crampons gave way and I began to slide down the slope. After 10-15m my ice axe arrest held and I came to a halt with an avalanche of sugary ice flowing around me. I front pointed down the rest of the slope.

Looking back up at our trail towards the rocky outcrop

The rest of the journey to camp 2 was without further incident. There are crevasses but they are obvious and easy to cross or avoid. The only other issue was the snow. Now softened by the heat of the day it was torturous. Nevermind I told myself, soon I could blissfully collapse in my tent at camp 2. At around 1630 when I arrived Jumpy had packed his tent away and was waiting for me. He informed me of incoming bad weather and that I needed to go down to base camp too. It was the last thing I wanted to hear but he was right and staying wasn't really an option. I packed up the tent, cooking and sleeping equipment and ended up with quite a hefty sack.

The final section of the summit ridge

I knew the route down from camp 2 well by now. Andra and myself had travelled it a few times in our efforts to acclimatise and prepare for our summit attempt. Between camp 2 at 5500m and camp 1 at 5050m the route is an undulating snow ridge four kilometres long. It's quite exposed and scenic in places. There are occasional crevasses and cornices but nothing overly serious. The main issue with travelling down at this time is the condition of the snow. Jumpy went on ahead. He kept an eye backwards to make sure I was progressing but there was no point in us both going at my exhausted methodical pace. Sometimes while sinking over my knees into the snow the familiar old woman was there. She knew about the deep snow and she made me feel a bit better about it.

Myself on the summit

Eventually I arrived into camp one and it was getting dark so I put my headtorch on. I began to feel a bit better and was able to move a little faster. Perhaps this was the lower altitude catching up with me or the fact that the route from here is pretty much completely downhill. The path down to base camp from here is good. It is steep in places but it's well marked and snow free consisting mainly of dirt, scree and shattered although somewhat stable rock. About two thirds of the way down a headtorch grew close. It was Andra who offered her congratulations. An emotional Paco, our cook/local guide/fixer, emerged from the darkness and gave me a hug. The happiest anyone has ever been to see me I think! He carried my sack the remaining few hundred meters to base camp arriving sometime after 2100 where I was met by the Catalan expedition and Jagged globe's cooks and HAP's who congratulated me also.

Andra on the ridge between Camp 1 and 2

In the end I am very pleased with the style of my ascent. A long push from camp 2 was never going to be easy especially to come back down to BC the same day. In hindsight had me and Andra managed to establish camp 3 then I believe we would have summited together. This would however have left us stuck at camp 3 through a weekend of bad weather. A long push from camp 2 became the only option given the time we had left and this is certainly not the easy way. The lack of fixed ropes also meant that risk on the serious descent down to camp 2 from the plateau when energy levels are low had to be carefully considered. Both Jumpy, who has considerable experience on 8000m peaks,  and myself felt that Spantik was harder than it's reputation suggests. This may have been down to the long alpine style nature of our ascent but even still I felt that it was not a peak that should be underestimated. It is a 7000m peak with a long route and technical passages that is subject to Karakorum weather and conditions.

Laila peak (6986m)

Its a lot of time and effort to climb peaks of this scale. It has taken 4 weeks of travelling, trekking, acclimatising and climbing and that is just to have a chance at the summit and does not include preparation before the trip of logistics, kit, permits and visas. How well you acclimatise, staying healthy and being fit enough all are decisive factors and of course tie in with the level of risk you are prepared to take in a hostile environment. The weather always has it's say and you can easily spend days sitting in Camp waiting for it to change as I did on a previous unsuccessful expedition to a different peak in the range. Even with success about half of our time on Spantik was spent resting or waiting for weather at base camp. The journey itself, namely the places and the people encountered are also to be appreciated because if it is all viewed as a means to a summit then it's going to be a long and potentially disappointing trip.

Final View of Spantik