Iranian Broad Peak Expedition - 2013: Broad Peak - Iranian Route – West Face

By : Ramin Shojaei

Edited by: Sheyda Saneinejad

This summer our team of five climbers tackled a new route on Broad Peak west face. It consisted of Aidin Bozorgi (24), Mojtaba Jarahi (28), Pouya Keyvan (24), Afshin Saadi (43), and me, Ramin Shojaei (47), as the leader. Aidin, Mojtaba, and Pouya climbed the new route alpine style and tragically lost their lives descending the summit.

Since then I can’t stop thinking about this entire ordeal. I try to understand what went wrong, and what we could have done to save their lives.

This is an account of this climb. I appreciate if you share your thoughts with us.

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We had a dream to climb a new route on Broad Peak since 1998. Until 2009, we always failed to finance our expedition. Well, except once; Kazem Faridian and I went for it on 2005. Due to various reasons we never put our hands and feet on the new ground. Eventually in 2009 we managed to arrange a rather big team to tackle the new route.

That year a team of 10 from Arash Mountaineering Club led by Kiomars Babazadeh sieged the route. After 43 days we managed to climb the first half of the route. (You can read a short account of that climb here http://aaj.americanalpineclub.org/climbs-and-expeditions/asia/pakistan/baltoro-muztagh/2009-broad-peak-by-r-shojaei/). Aidin, Afshin, and I (as technical leader) were among the 10 climbers in that team.

In 2011, a team of 6 climbers from our club attempted the next half, from camp 3 at 7000m on the normal route to the west face and above. They ran out of time and abandoned the expedition after fixing 350 meters of rope on the traverse. Their attempt gave them invaluable experiences though, as no Iranian had ever walked on new ground at such an altitude. Aidin, Afshin, and Mojtaba were the 3 climbers who fixed the rope on the traverse (I was not in that expedition.)

This year we chose to climb alpine style from camp 3 to the top. Based on the experiences gained from the last 2 expeditions we felt that the alpine style ascent of that section was possible, faster and even safer. In 2009, we had some close calls that were mainly caused by exhaustive rope fixing on the route.

Anyway, on June 26^th, 2013 we reached base camp. We shared services at base camp with 6 other climbers; Americans Scott Powrie, John Quillen, Brian Moran, Canadian Ron Hoglin, Mongolian lady Badamgarav Gangaamaa (Ganga), and another Iranian Azim Berahmani.

From left to right: John, Ron, Afshin, Aidin, Pouya, Ganga, Mojtaba (Photo: Scott Powrie)

From Left to right: Aidin, Afshin, Scott, Ron, Brian (Photo: Iranian team archive)

From left to right, top row: Berahmani, Afshin, Asghar, Mojtaba, Ganga, Sultan, Pouya, Ramin

Bottom row: Ron, Aidin (Photo: Scott Powrie)

For acclimatization I chose a system which can be simplified as climb high-sleep high. I had learned it from great Ukranian climbers in my first visit to Pakistan in 1997. That year I had led a team of 11 climbers to Rakaposhi (7788m) south west spur in which 6 of us climbed the summit (read more at http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199831502/print).

On June 28^th we started our acclimatization on the normal route. During the next 3 days we climbed to 5300m (so called lower camp 1), camp 1 at 5650m, and camp 2 at 6100m. I was the only one who suffered from this way of acclimatization with severe headache. Others were totally comfortable and had no complaints. At the time I thought it’s because I live in a lower altitude location than my fellow climbers - I live in Toronto,Canada at around 100m from sea level while others live in Tehran,Iran at 1200m. Also, they had the chance to climb to 4000m+ peaks every weekend, something I could not do.

Camp 1 at 5650m (Photo: Iranian team archive)

We rested for 2 days at base camp and started our next phase of acclimatization on July 4^th. First we reached camp 2 and then to 6600m where we pitched our tents. Again I suffered from severe headache while others were totally fine.

Our first plan to tackle new route, in 2009, was to traverse to the west face from camp 3 (7000m). We had also considered another option to traverse to the west face from 6600m. But we deferred the decision until we could have another look at the 2 options. If we had decided to traverse from 6600m that spot would have become our camp 3.

We had planned to spend July 6^th, at 6600m and climb to camp 3 carrying nothing but water and snacks the following day. Aidin and Pouya wanted to climb to camp 3 and stay there for the night. Mojtaba had toothache, which he felt was due to lack of good acclimatization. So he wanted to climb to camp 3 and descend to base camp the same day.

On his way to base camp, at around 1 PM, just below camp 1, Mojtaba saw Brian who had fallen and broken his leg. John was lowering him down alone. So Mojtaba didn’t hesitate to give him a hand. It took them 3 hours to reach 5300m to the site of lower camp 1. It was 4 PM now, scheduled time for radio contact. John asked for more help and Pakistani rope guys[1] rushed for help.

Brian had to wait for 5 days at base camp before a helicopter flew and took him down. (Note: Brian has undergone a lot of surgeries since then and is still dealing with his shattered leg. We all pray for a quick recovery for him.)

[1] This year a group of Pakistanis fixed the route and asked everybody to pay for it. We called them “rope guys”.

Mojtaba on slopes above camp 2 (Photo: Iranian team archive)

The next morning, July 7^th, was cold and windy so Afshin decided to stay in the tent. I had better clothes and climbed up to 6800m and studied 2 possible traverses to the west face. Aidin, Mojtaba, and Pouya had done the same the day before. After some time Aidin and Pouya climbed down from camp 3 and we descended together to the base camp.

Now it was time to decide who would be our summit team. Aidin, Mojtaba, and Pouya were the strongest. I was the most experienced but I was not sure if I was acclimatized well (Later I figured out that it takes me longer to acclimatize than average climbers). If I didn’t perform well it could cost the whole team their ascent. I felt it was unfair to risk the ascent of those 3 who were fit and capable of climbing the route fast. So, ultimately Aidin, Mojtaba and Pouya were chosen to climb the new route.

I should mention here that we had tried to find GPS coordinates of the normal route, especially above camp 3, but this was not available.

I estimated that the route would take 2 days to finish. One day to do the technically challenging sections ending at around 7350m, and one day to the summit. We decided that summit team should carry another day of fuel and food just in case. Descent would be from normal route, or if it made sense, the same route they had climbed.

Aidin and others had told me that in 2011 fixing rope to the end of traverse had taken around 5 hours. This time they didn’t require fixing so I thought it would take even less time. Also, they would use an ATC Guide belay device so that two people would be belayed at the same time.

The three of them shared a 2 person tent, with no fly,. Aidin and Mojtaba preferred to have down jackets and sleeping bags and Pouya just down jacket and pants.

July 13^th was the first day to tackle the new route. Summit team started their climb at 7 AM. By 5 PM they had only reached the end of the traverse. Aidin told me on the radio that ice condition was worse than 2 years ago. They had specially faced difficult terrain on a rock-ice section. It was obvious they would not reach 7350m that day. There was a small col at around 7050m that they could pitch their tent to. They reached there at around 7:30 PM and stayed for the night.

Afshin and I climbed from camp 2 to camp 3 that same day. We hoped to climb the normal route the next day and possibly greet the other 3 on the summit. But now we decided to wait at camp 3 and start our own climb the next day.

Traverse to the right of camp 3 and the route climbed by our team (Photo: Iranian team archive)

The morning of July 14^thI talked to the other 3 and Aidin told me they didn’t rest well last night as the ledge was too small and they could only sit. I warned them to be careful not to lose their concentration due to lack of sleep, but they started strong with a good spirit. It was rather steep ice and it took them another day before they reached 7250m to a place where they could build a platform for their tent and rest well for the night. First thing I asked them when they reached there was about snow/ice condition; it was not ice anymore but snow.

Afshin and I prepared ourselves for our summit bid that afternoon. It was a cold night with strong wind. I woke up at 12 midnight. 2 Polish climbers passed beside our tent and I followed an hour later. Afshin didn’t have adequate clothing and felt very cold after a few meters. So he decided to stay behind. I was fast and didn’t feel cold at all.

The weather was so-so, but at around 6-6:30 AM it started to snow and visibility became very low. I was at around 7700m. Ironically it was the same spot and time I had to turn back 8 years ago due to bad weather. I didn’t want to wait for the weather to improve. I had other more important things to worry about. It was summit day for our new route team!

I was not able to reach them by radio. We hadn’t scheduled to talk at that time. Also, a huge rock pillar was between us and I thought it could be the reason why they didn’t get my call. So, I decided to descend to camp 3 and share my thought with them regarding their summit bid.

I reached camp 3 at 9 AM and managed to talk to them at 9:20. Aidin was on the radio and I strongly recommended they should leave their loads behind, go for the summit as fast as they could, and descend from the same route they had climbed. Aidin rejected this idea as he thought they had to rappel all the way down, which in his opinion was difficult and time consuming.

Our camp at 6600m (Photo: Iranian team archive)

At 11 AM I tried to convince them again and told them: “it’s not a 4000m traverse. The weather may get even worse and you’re going to descend from the normal route which is unknown to you while you are familiar with your own route.” They rejected my idea again.

At around 1 PM they told me they were just 1 hour below the summit. It turned out they had estimated incorrectly. At 7:30 PM we talked again. They still believed they were just 45 minutes below the summit (Weeks later I found out that some other climbers had made the same mistake when climbing Manaslu and Makalu. They had estimated they would reach the summit in half an hour and it took 5-6 hours in reality). The sky was clear that night.

The next day at 7 AM, Mojtaba called and told me that they had had a bad night as their tent platform was not good. I left my radio on, hoping to talk and cheer them on as soon as they reach the summit, and then waited, and waited...

Hours passed and they didn’t call. I was worried sick as they didn’t have any food or water by now and they were around 8000m. I thought maybe one of them had hit the wall and couldn’t walk anymore. At 2 PM I called base camp to find out if they had called anybody by satelite phone. They hadn’t.

Eventually at 4 PM Mojtaba called me. His voice was tired and rather hopeless. He told me they were exhausted and 30m below the summit which could take another hour. He asked me what my orders would be. I was surprised as I had never ordered them anything, well, except a few times. They were strong, experienced, mature, and smart, so there was no need to order. It was obvious they could not decide among themselves what to do; up or down?

As I was very concerned I told them, without any hesitation, to leave everything they didn’t need behind, including the tent and extra equipment and rush to the rocky summit and to the camp 3. Mojtaba just said: “Sure, we will”. I said: “call me again when you are at the rocky summit and we will start climbing from camp 3 towards you”.

At 5 PM Mojtaba called me again. I was expecting him to tell me he was on the rocky summit. But he was happy and energetic and said: “Sorry Ramin, we disobeyed you. We are on the summit now.”

I said: “Congratulations! But I’m not happy until I see you safe and sound at camp 3. I don’t know how or from where, but find every bit of energy you can and come towards camp 3.” He replied: “OK, we’ll do”. Our radio battery was going to die so I didn’t want to talk more. I was hoping we could catch them somewhere below the col (the col at 7800m between middle and rocky summit). Azim Berahmani did listen to both of these last 2 conversations. He also congratulated them.

Afshin and I packed and started towards the col. It was less windy, therefore less cold, than the night before. But I was slow this time. It took me twice the time to climb the same distance. I sent Afshin back to camp 3 after an hour, as I was the problem and I didn’t want him to suffer because of me. I couldn’t feel my toes any more after some time. 3.5 hours passed and I hadn’t climbed much. I saw the effort pointless. Because if I would get frostbite it would only make matters more complicated. So I turned back towards camp 3. I reached there at 9:30 PM. We had scheduled to talk at 10. But nobody was on the other side but Iranian Berahmani at base camp.

He told us that the other 3 had contacted at 8 PM stating that they stayed on the col between the 2 peaks. At this time our radio battery totally died. It was the spare battery we had. So from this point on we could not contact anybody.

I asked Afshin to go up by himself tomorrow morning, as I had no hope of reaching anywhere. Afshin agreed but something silly happened during the night and most of his clothes got wet. He could not go up anymore.

The next day starting 8 AM the weather conditions got bad again. While in most bad days we had some periods of clear weather, that day was one of the worst and it rarely cleared until 5 PM.

At around 10 AM, they had contacted Ron at base camp and told him that they could not find fixed rope on the normal route and were asking for direction. Ron, who had climbed the rocky summit a few days earlier tried to guide them the best he could. Ron remembers they were talking about a yellow band which was surprising to him.

Yellow (or brownish) band near the rocky summit is visible in this photo. Rocky summit is to the left (Photo: Thomas Lammle)

We at camp 3 didn’t know about this conversation. At 1 PM I told Afshin to get ready and if they didn’t show up at or around col by 4 PM, he should rush down and ask for a rescue team. I asked him to send me a charged battery too. At 2 PM we accidently found out our radio battery is working again, maybe for a few minutes. I contacted base camp and talked to Berahmani and he said the summit team had lost their way. I asked them to arrange a rescue team. He told me a rescue team had already been arranged. Mike Horn, and Swiss mountain guide Fred Roux were ready to climb tomorrow. I told him Afshin would come down tonight.

Later that day at around 7:30 PM, Aidin called Iran and told them they had rappelled a couple of rope lengths only to find out they had taken the wrong route. They had climbed back which took a lot of effort and energy and now they were 50m below the col.

At 8 PM I called base camp with the small amount of battery left and asked about the rescue team. Berahmani said there would be no such team as Mike and Fred asked for GPS coordinates, otherwise it would be pointless to climb. I asked about Afshin and he said he was not at base camp yet.

Later I found out Afshin had fallen into the glacial river from a bamboo bridge. It was the same bridge and the same river that a few weeks back a German lady had fallen into and lost her life. Afshin went down the river for some 20m but miraculously managed to save himself by using his ice axe.

Bamboo bridge on glacial river (Photo: Iranian team archive)

Left to right: Mike, Kobi Reichen, Fred, Ramin, Afshin (Photo: Iranian team archive)

Next morning was quiet and windless. Unfortunately, the 3 climbers were by now so exhausted they could not move at all. They were in contact with our friend in Iran through satelite phone and were asking for help. Unfortunately the fact that they were still in contact with Iran was missed in base camp and no one knew about it.

That morning a Pakistani high altitude porter, Aziz, left base camp at 4 AM and reached me at camp 3 at around 1 PM. By this time a thick layer of fog had gathered around camp 3 and above and visibility was almost zero. I was so weak at this time that I could not go up with him and he refused to go by himself. So I got ready to accompany him. After an hour I had walked a short distance, maybe 30m or so. I sat on the snow for another hour but could not climb at all.

I asked Aziz, begged him, and told him we pay you anything you want, please go up. But he didn’t want to go by himself. I asked him how many children he had: he had 5. I couldn’t insist anymore. I told him to go down and I would come later on my own when I could. Before leaving camp 3 I asked base camp once more if summit team had contacted anybody. The answer was no. I talked to Ron this time as Berahmani had left for his summit bid early that morning.

I felt absolutely heartbroken. I envisioned myself as a mother whose kid is under a heavy rock and she can’t lift it. And the only thing she can do is to watch her kid suffer.

I was so weak that the rappel to camp 2, which is done normally in an hour, took me 2.5 hours. A Mexican couple, Badia and Mauricio López Bonilla with their HAP, and Ganga with her 2 HAPs were there. They were going to climb to the summit the next few days.

I contacted base camp and Sultan, ATP base camp manager, asked me to talk to Ganga and request if she would agree to abandon her climb and release her HAPs so that they can help us in the rescue effort. She accepted with no hesitation and I’m always grateful for her kind and selfless character.

Then I talked to Sarvar and Asghar, the 2 HAPs, and asked them if they were ready to help. Fortunately they were fit and ready for the summit and willing to help. I gave them my radio hoping they would find the boys somewhere on or below the ridge.

Aidin contacted Iran again that night. They asked him to call base camp but he could just push the green button to redial. He had frostbite on his fingers and toes. He sounded disoriented and confused. He was talking about the other two who were asleep or didn’t want to move.

The next day was Friday July 19^th. Ganga and I climbed down together. To my surprise I saw Mike and Fred at 5300m. They told me Aidin had contacted Iran and was still alive. I just didn’t know how to thank them. Farther down I saw Marty Schmidth, his son, Denali, and Chris Warner who were climbing up for help. He asked me how come they had not made any contact yesterday and suddenly their satellite phone battery started working again today? I had no answer. He also asked if their families could afford a helicopter flight. I told him I’ll find out at base camp. They went up and I went down (Sadly, Marty and his son died a few days later on slopes of K2).

Later that day I realized that Mike and Fred turned back from camp 1. They had contacted a physician in Switzerland who had told them that it’s very unlikely for someone to survive this long at such an altitude. Marty and his team also came back. I guess they didn’t believe Aidin and others were still alive and thought the communication story was just a lie to convince people to go for help.

I reached base camp and managed to talk to my friend, Kiomars Babazadeh, in Iran. He assured me there were indeed conversations between him and Aidin all this time. I believe through chaos and confusion, which is very common at these kinds of crisis, and also miscommunication due to different languages spoken, no one knew about it at base camp.

I asked Kiomars if they could make a request for a helicopter to fly. We both knew there was no chance of rescue at that altitude, at least with Pakistani helicopters, but I suggested maybe they could search the area and take some high resolution photos so that we could later on investigate and look for any clues for where they may be.

Aidin had asked for help again that morning.

July 20^th. There was talk about a helicopter flight. With help of another friend, Homayoon, and Iranian chargé, Mr. Hossein Ravesh, it was promised that the next day we would have a flight with a German professional rescuer, Thomas Lammle.

At around 2 PM, we received another call from Iran stating that Aidin is still alive and begging for help. No one was around except Afshin and Aziz. And they started to go up at 4 PM. I reached Mike and Marty again and asked them if anybody was ready to help. I promised reward money for anybody who could find them, even if they can’t help them down. But nobody was willing. They were basically saying that they still didn’t know where they were and it was impossible to find someone in such a massive mountain. Also, the chance of their survival was very slim.

Aidin called for the last time that evening. His last words were: “If nobody helps me I will end up like the other two.”

July 21^st. It was a sunny day and 2 helicopters flew to base camp. Thomas was with them. He was under the impression that there was an injured or sick climber at camp 4 and he needed to take some oxygen with him and bring the sick climber down. I explained the situation and told Thomas that we didn’t even know where exactly they were. They flew one more time and took some photos. Unfortunately they didn’t have high resolution cameras and nobody found anything in the photos.

The helicopter crew asked if we had their gps coordinates, which we didn’t. We had tried to get coordinates from Thuraya, the satellite phone company but it was not an easy task. Ultimately Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad, had to get involved so that we could get the coordinates that afternoon. Helicopters had already left.

Using Google Earth our friends in Iran spotted their location. It shows that the last call was made from somewhere on the north-west pillar.

Using Google Earth our friends in Iran spotted their location. (Photo: Thomas Lammle)

Afshin went up to camp 3 and stayed there for the night.

2 days later we called off the rescue effort. We concluded that they were very hard to reach and with the work force at base camp it was impossible to reach them.

On July 25^th we left base camp for Skardu.