The Latok and Ogre peaks rise above the Choktoi Valley in Pakistan. PHOTO: EXPLORERSWEB
A US-based team of mountaineers is preparing a new route attempt to Baintha Brakk II, better known as Ogre II, in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range.
According to the website WebExplorers, Alaska’s Ethan Berkeland will be joined by recent Piolet d’Or recipient August Franzen and Vitaliy Musiyenko for the expedition to the 6,960m summit.
Ogre II is much less frequently visited than its higher neighbor, Ogre I, which has been the subject of several new route creation efforts in recent years. The report states that the mountain has never been climbed in alpine style.
The only successful ascent of Ogre II was by a South Korean expedition in 1983 via the northwest buttress. The team used heavy expedition tactics, including fixed ropes and higher camps.
The South Korean climb was described as “epic”, with two climbers, Lim Deok-yong and Yoo Han-gyu, reportedly reaching the summit after spending the night in an ice cave without a sleeping bag or down jacket. Another member of the expedition died during the journey.
More recently, American climbers Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson died at the summit in 2016 while attempting, for the second year in a row, an alpine-style ascent of the north face. They disappeared during a storm and their bodies were never found.
Read: Pakistan deploys army helicopter in search of missing US climbers
Musiyenko said in a social media post that the trio intended to attempt the north face, the same line Dempster and Adamson were attempting.
To help fund the climb, Berkeland received the inaugural Legacy Grant, awarded by the Jess Roskelley Foundation and Lowa Sportswear.
The foundation was created in tribute to Jess Roskelley, who died alongside 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 and bold, meaningful goals in the mountains.” Berkeland works as an engineer and maintains seismic monitoring stations for the Alaska Seismic Center.
The team is expected to travel to the Choktoi Glacier in the Karakoram this summer.
