A four-person Polish Mountaineering Association expedition initiated by President of the Sport Commission, Ireneusz Ra, MP, under the honorary patronage of Bronis, aw Komorowski, President of the Republic of Poland, has achieved a historical success by reaching the summit of Karakoram.
This was announced by team leader of Polish National GI Expedition, Artur Hajzer in a press conference held at Embassy of Poland on Thursday. The mountaineer was accompanied by Ambassador of Poland Dr Andrzej Awanicz during the press conference.
Artur said that Polish team was the first who reached the summit of Karakoram in winter in the last 30 years. On March 9, 2012, approximately at 8:30am local time, Adam Bielecki and Janusz Gob conquered in winter Gasherbrum I (8,068 m above sea level) in Karakoram range, he said. The ascent was made via the so-called Japanese route from the north-west side. The conquerors made their ascent of the mountain without oxygen. The expedition established the base camp on January 21, 2012 and the summit was reached on the 49th day counting from the beginning of operations.
"The winter ascent of an eight-thousander in Karakoram is second in the history," the team leader said. Artur led the expedition, whereas Agnieszka Bielecka, an alpinist was the leader of the base camp. Moreover, two Pakistani climbers (Ali Sadpara and Shaheen Baig) supported the expedition. The expedition is co-financed by resources of the Ministry of Sport and PKN Orlen.
A three-member team of another international expedition composed of Gerfried Goeschl (Austria), Cedric Hahlen (Switzerland) and Nissar Sadpara (Pakistan) was trying to approach the summit from the South. But unfortunately they all expired due to harsh weather. Adam Bielecki and Janusz Gob descended to camp 3, whereas, camp 2 at 6,450 m above sea level, Artur Hajzer, the leader of the expedition waited for them.
Artur said that they spent 57 days in expedition. The speed of the wind was around 300 km per hour and temperature was up to -70 centigrade. "We have to wait for weeks for normal wind flow to proceed again," he said. He said Karakoram was his second home and always a big challenge to summit in winter. There were many expedition teams came in summer, but hardly there was any team in winter due to harsh weather.
"In the past 23 expedition only two have succeeded. First was Italian team and second was Polish," he said. President Alpine Adventure Club, Colonel Manzoor Hussain (Retd) congratulated the team for their successful adventure. He said that Pakistan was a land for mountaineers and every year many foreigners visit the country.