by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
It was 8:30 PM and was now completely dark outside. My summit pack was complete and my down suit was filled with all the calories that I would need for the next 24 hours (or at least as many as I could fit). All that needed to be done was to fill my water bottles with...
by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
Camp 3 was dead silent that morning, as everyone slept in from the big move up through the Black Pyramid. At least that was the case for everyone except, Garrett, Geoff, Phurba, and me, who were in the routine of waking up for regular 6:30 AM radio call. While we...
by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
Today was a pivotal day, we would either be heading up for a summit push or down to lick our wounds. Descending would mean at least 3 rest days at BC, to recover from our failed attempt, and then however many days it took to find a favorable weather window. I knew it,...
by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
Whenever I awoke last night, I could hear the pitter-patter of the heavy snowflakes landing on our tent walls. I didn’t let it keep me awake but I made mental note of it because there was a very good chance that it would affect our plan. Sure enough, when I woke up,...
by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
The team was supposed to depart for C2 at 9:00 AM but David, Geoff, and I were ready at 8:30. Several members of the rest of our team were also ready early and I began to wonder if they knew our plan to race to C2. It was almost like a scene from a movie, where...
by John Stenderup | Aug 8, 2018 | K2
As many of you have already reminded me, it has taken me a couple of weeks to compile my notes from our summit rotation, primarily due to the limited amount of downtime during our trek back to civilization but also some cumulative fatigue on my part. And those are the...
by John Stenderup | Jul 16, 2018 | K2
Wow, so this is happening. It feels as if it was just yesterday that I was writing to you about gearing up for an assault on Everest and Lhotse. I vividly remember the fear and anxiety that was coursing through me as I typed out each word, unsure of what lay ahead....
by John Stenderup | Jul 15, 2018 | K2
As planned, I spent most of my rest day catching up on replying to comments and questions on the website, and personal emails. It took a ton of time because I have received an overwhelming amount, but it was great to finally get caught up. I was even planning on...
by John Stenderup | Jul 14, 2018 | K2
Mountaineering expeditions require a lot of hard work high on the mountain but rest days at basecamp are equally valuable. The general rule of thumb is that we spend an equal number of days low (Basecamp) as we did high (climbing), before returning to climbing. Due to...
by John Stenderup | Jul 12, 2018 | K2
Our plan failed out of the gate. We had tried to wake up early but with our tent getting hammered by wind, it was difficult to melt snow for water and boil it for breakfast. Geoff, one of the most proficient snow melters that I know, proceeded to spill the water out...
