K3 (Broad Peak) 8047m and K2 8611m

On the 30th of December 2007 Simone is leaving Italy for his next challenge. He will try to realise what is considered to be the most difficult and extreme high altitude climb: the winter climbing of a 8000m peak.
Just eight on the fourteen peaks on earth that are more than 8000m high have been climbed during the wintertime, and that happened during the years between 1980 and 1988.
Sevens of these have been climbed form Polish climbers; the last peak that was reached in wintertime –Shishapangma 8027m (trad: death flesh meadow) - was summited on the 14th of January 2005 by Piotr Morawski (POL) and me.
At the moment he is the only non-Polish climber that was able to realise a high altitude wintertime climbing.

There are still six of the 8000m peaks that are waiting to be climbed during the coldest and wildest season of the year. Fives of these peaks are located in Pakistan, and one in Nepal. After several wintertime experiences – he has realised more that 30 mountaineering expeditions on the main mountain ranges on earth, of which six during wintertime - and after analysing these six 8000m peaks unclimbed during the winter, he chooses a new challenge. Thus he asked for climbing permits in order to attempt the climb of Broad Peak (K3) 8047m in Karakorum range (Pakistan) during the wintertime.

In the summer of 2003 he already climbed Broad Peak – called also K3, 8047m - just in little more than 24 hours (a normal climb is usually three days). This fast climbing was a confirmation of his personal skills; moreover knowing the route will help him in my winter attempt. This past experience and knowing the climbing route will help him in my next winter attempt.

The Broad Peak.

The local name of the mountain is Phalchan Kangri (balti language). During the Karakorum survey of 1856 made by the British Empire, the mountain was called K3 (the third peak measured in the Karaorum range, just after K2).
When surveyors finally saw it, they realised that the peak was more than one miles long: thus they called the mountain Broad Peak.

Once the Baltistan was a far away and unknown area, inhabited by different populations - Baltis, Lhadaki, Kohistanis, Kashmiri – speaking different languages. Now all these populations suffer from the political disputes about the sovereignty of the Kashmir territory carried on by India, Pakistan and also China.
The Broad Peak is located on the Goldwin Austen glacier, left branch of the Baltoro glacier, on the Karakorum range, just after the Concordia that lays in front of K2, the second highest peak on earth. The first exploration of this area dates back at the end of the 1800 and in first years of the1900, by the Americans Bullok-Workman, a couple that were travelling in Asia by bike.

In 1892 the British Martin Conway reached the highest part of the Baltoro glacier; there he named the place Concordia because it was similar – but definitively bigger than- to the Swiss Aletsch glacier. Moreover the K2 reminded to him the Breithorn peak (trad: broad peak) of Zermat.
The Duke of Abruzzi was the first to measure the peak as 8207m; later and more correct measures done by Ardito Desio found the peak to be 8047m high.