First attempt on Laila Peak
A brief report from Fredrik and Jörgen (the intrepid Scandinavians stepping out to ski Pakistan).
Last Thursday I and Jörgen started our push for the summit of Laila Peak. We climbed up to our camp at 5000 meters. After a dinner with freeze dried chicken curry we got a few hours of sleep. 2.30 in the morning, with a clear sky and almost full moon, we left our tent and started climbing. Seven hours later, only a hundred meters off the summit, we found the conditions too icy. It was not possible to ski in those conditions so we turned around. We put on our skis and as first ever we skied the steep north-west face of Laila Peak. It was 1500 vertical meters of 45 degrees snow face down to the Gondogoro Glacier. Even though the conditions where terrible this must count as one of my most interesting and exciting ski runs. The weather forecast looks good for the next few days so we will go for another try to reach the summit of Laila Peak before we head off to Gasherbrum.
Fredrik
We’ll bring you more news as soon as we have it (and, hopefully some pictures)…
