Sunny greetings from Pakistan

New to the LOWA PRO team and already on the way to an expedition.

With sunny greetings from Pakistan

"I give the mountain the chance to throw me off." Simon Gietl | LOWA PRO Team

Pakistan - South Tyrolean Simon Gietl is heading back to the Choktoi Glacier with the Latok group.

He was already here in 2018 with Thomas Huber, Rainer Treppte and Yannick Boissenot to attempt the previously unclimbed north face of the 7,145-metre-high Latok I. However, due to the high avalanche risk, they were unable to get in - the mountain and in particular the north face, on which many first-class alpinists had already cut their teeth, had once again triumphed.

During their acclimatisation for the glacier, the four-person rope team had also reached their first camp on Latok III at 5,600 metres - an important step at the time to gain enough confidence for the actual goal of the Latok I north face. But after the weather changed and the risk became disproportionate, neither the glacier nor an ascent of Latok III was on the cards. So they had to leave without having achieved anything.

ANOTHER DESTINATION IN MIND

In the summer of 2019, Gietl, Huber and Boissenot headed back to Choktoi, but without Treppte. But it wasn't just the rope team that had changed, the goal was also different. They left the glacier and the fascination of the north face of Latok I behind and instead wanted to try their hand at its eastern neighbour, Latok III - a good opportunity, as the first ascent by the Japanese was 40 years ago.

Following his philosophy, there is only one way to climb a mountain for Simon Gietl: traditional protection with friends, wedges and normal bolts.

"We had to realise that it wasn't meant to be. Even if it's difficult, there's one thing you have to learn in life: accept the things you can't change. It was extremely difficult to realise that the expedition was over. But one thing helped me a lot: We all came home safe and sound and still have the opportunity to come back!" Simon Gietl | LOWA PRO Team

But it didn't look like that at the start of the expedition. After a good two weeks, everything was ready for the big adventure. "In short, the weather couldn't have been nicer and the anticipation of finally getting started was boundless," enthuses the LOWA PRO Team athlete about the start of the expedition. At midnight, in the light of their headlamps, the rope team set off reverently from base camp in the direction of the start - but no one spoke about the reason for the silence at the time. "We couldn't, or didn't want to, realise that it was just so extremely warm," says Simon, explaining the mood. When they had prepared everything for climbing at the start, they could already hear it: the first big rockfall. As it was still pitch black, apart from the light cones of the headlamps, the loud and unpleasant noise was the only indication: "Is it perhaps too warm?" But that couldn't or shouldn't be the case. The motivation was too great to go straight back. "We continued to climb, but the softened snow reminded us step by step that it was simply too warm. Nevertheless, we made good progress. I was just happy to be back here. On this mountain that gives and means so much to me," reports Gietl about the reason for ignoring the weather issue. 100 metres! That's how much more the rope team managed compared to the previous year. "When the sun came up, that was the end of the fun. We had to accept that we hadn't been wrong from the start. It was simply too warm and we had no business being here in such conditions," the alpinist admits disappointedly.

FOUR WEEKS TO GO

Gietl, Huber and Boissenot still had four weeks to try again. Not bad conditions, actually. But the weather wasn't going to change over the next few days either. "From 9 a.m. at the latest, the avalanches and rockfalls started. It showed us time and time again that it didn't make sense like this," reports Simon Gietl. The daily updates from the weather forecast also gave no hope. "We were hoping for good news, but unfortunately it got even warmer. The zero-degree mark moved up to 5,800 metres. At the access point and at base camp, the temperatures remained at +8 degrees at night," Gietl comments on the crazy situation. They had waited and hoped for three weeks. But the weather would not change.

Simon Gietl

LOWA PRO Team

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FACTS & DATA

DURATION:

8 weeks
DIFFICULTY:

difficult conditions
CLIMATE:

Continental

Sunny greetings from Pakistan

With sunny greetings from Pakistan

FACTS & DATA

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