Arrival in Skardu

Well here we are, finally heading to K2.  The preparation and organisation for this trip has been intense and unrelenting for both Alix and me in Rome over the past three weeks - drawing together old gear, buying new stuff, training, logistics, and so on.  Over 500 individual pieces of kit, from large to tiny, but all essential as if you forget anything the nearest shop is 9 days away. There is simply no back up option, if you forget anything.

This picture, snapped as we landed at Skardu airport yesterday, was the moment that I stopped planning and started participating.

On Friday morning our small team will take jeeps for 10 hours across spectacular terrain to the village of Askole, which is the last inhabited place before Base Camp.  After overnighting in tents we will then trek for 8 days past the majestic peaks of the Karakorum, setting up camp on the glacier every night and breaking down each morning.  We should reach K2 Base Camp on or around 30 June and K2 itself will not be visible until the day before as it is hidden in a valley. 

Between now and then all I will have is a Sat phone so I will not be regularly posting until the 30 June. The expedition proper will start once we’re at Base Camp.  Then the real work begins...