There were people whom we didn't know but had to take into our team as they had done much to make the expedition happen. I'm talking about the group from Novosibirsk and Sergei Sokolov. We invited Sergei Penzov. He asked to take his friend with whom he was in many expeditions. The rest were people we knew.

Despite of these facts a good team formed. It happened as if I joined them all together. Many people from other cities knew me personally, many were eager to take part in the expedition because they had known much about my previous expeditions. Renat Temirbaev was that kind of a person. He wasn't experienced in high-altitude climbing. He asked us to take him on the expedition. I had heard some uncomplimentary opinions about him, nevertheless I took him in the expedition, although it was a risk.

From the logical point of view such a combined team didn't predict anything good. Every member of the team was an individual, and I hoped that everyone would be able to find his job in the expedition. It merely had to be organized.

The starting point in organizing the expedition was gathering in Bishkek. Andrei Volkov and I prepared for it thoroughly. We understood that the experience of climbing Everest and other mountaineering experience could become a stumbling-block and tried to avoid these stones. We tried to predict different situations and made many notes. I was inventing different turns and Andrei analyzed the situation and tried to find useful variants. The problems we encountered soon after arriving in Bishkek distracted us from the meeting at first, but the meeting happened of itself at the very first day. We weren't well-prepared for it, but the depth of the problem or its scale gave us the mood needed. The meeting was carried competently and skillfully. There were some moments when somebody tried to turn the meeting towards his aims, but we predicted that. I declared my position clearly and without any uncertainties. There is a verbatim report of that meeting.

Later, in half a year, the proper word was found. One day Andrei said that the expedition needs a master. That moment I became its master, whether by my own will or not, I don't know. It happened so and it was accepted. I had the biggest experience and financial questions were solved mostly because of my efforts and my connections. No one from the team paid the whole amount of money for his participation in the expedition.

A very strong influence was exerted by the contract Andrei and I created. It was exact, clear and outspoken. It didn't have any legal power, but played its role. I announced to all the members that I have definite responsibilities to our sponsor for the results of the expedition and we need to establish formal relationships and can't rely only on friendship. I, being a head of the "Lada-Everest" and as the leader of the expedition, played two roles (representing the interests of sponsors and of the team). I had a private conversation with every member of the expedition to clear the role he would play in the expedition. Everything was written down.

There were experienced people in the team. Everyone understood what he had to do. Mariev and Dosaev, being in Togliatti, started forming the luggage of the expedition. In Bishkek they went on doing that. They were regarded as my representatives, although they were young. Volodya Udin did the same in Novosibirsk.

The second major stage was the crossing of the border. It was done more or less smoothly.

The third stage was trekking. Actually, we got to know each other there. The members of the team began to adjust themselves to each other. They took their own roles and the members started understanding what others are capable of doing. These seven days were not a waste of time. We created a collective. We can say that we were not a company but we were the team of people who did the definite job together according to one general plan and with our own efforts. Some troubles with the Chinese (mostly with the liaison officer and the cameleers) were successfully solved, mostly by my efforts. Many members of the team (who never participated in such expeditions before) couldn't realize that different relationships, different culture, different understanding of the situation were needed there. Yes, everything there was not like in Russia or even in Europe. Everything there was as it was in Asia. It were their traditions. We were often disappointed by the situations we encountered and we couldn't understand a lot. Having such an experience, I tried to prevent conflicts.

The next stage was the base camp. We announced the groups which consisted of four people and rating of the groups in Bishkek. Doing this we followed our own opinion. We didn't meet any objections. I think that the guys just didn't want to spoil the relationships right from the beginning. The guys started showing their worth while setting the camp. The volume of work became clear. The first luggage transportation took three hours and evidently showed us how difficult will it be to transport all the luggage to ABC. Doing their best, the quartets actually got their ratings. We clearly saw their current physical condition.

The leading role was given to our group (Dusharin, Volkov, Sabelnikov, and Kolesnichenko). Three of us (Andrei, I and Ilya) were Everest summiters. Our group "number one" was the most experienced. We didn't claim to be the first, but it happened so. According to the results of the first transportation day Udin's group became "the second". It was the only group that managed to carry the load up to the point of destination, the intermediate camp. The rest were able to carry the load only to the Pakistani camp. They were a little bit weaker. I think that the fact that we didn't have to form groups was positive. It became clear that the group number one would be Dusharin's, the group number two - Udin's, the group number three - Penzov's, the group number four - Dosaev's. Everything was settled. It seemed to me that it conciliated the group from Novosibirsk. They were satisfied with their second position. The rest of guys understood everything, and they didn't have excessive ambitious. I think that everything was alright. That fact was confirmed by the following events in the expedition.

The team on the route. It was also some kind of a demonstration of everybody's abilities there. The fact that we were divided into groups influenced the schedule of our work in the mountains. The groups didn't change till the end of the expedition. Our group took the most difficult work. Perhaps, it wasn't the right decision in order to reach the summit, but nobody knew the route. Nobody knew the conditions of the climb. Nobody had enough experience. Andrei had the biggest theoretical knowledge, and I also had, but much less. The rest had to rely on us. That's why we were doing the first ascents. I planned the schedule according to that.

We already had climbing experience on 8,000 meter peaks. Why do I say that being the first for us influenced the results of the expedition? It was because we worked more than others. We were breaking trails, fixing ropes, carrying luggage. We didn't know the route, its details, and couldn't plan the time. The second and the third groups were moving according to what the first group had done. They did it more tactically correct, rationally, it took less of their strength.

We took the hardest load. Probably, it was right for the logic of the team's work. Everybody understood that, and it helped to keep the relationships in the team.

And the second team tried to confirm their rating, having been taken hard work to do, carrying a lot of luggage. At the very beginning the guys didn't have a chance to fix ropes, but they didn't claim to do it. Later, starting from the 3rd camp setting, when my quartet got tired they advanced to our position and did hard work up to the 4th camp. All this joined the team too. It was the team which members didn't hide behind each others' backs.

Some tactic tricks could be traced in the actions of Penzov's quartet. When you start analyzing the ascent, you can see that the group didn't do their full amount of work. Probably, it might be explained. Renat Temirbaev was in that group. He was inexperienced and was not feeling OK, so he had to be getting special attention. To my mind it was just one more reason for not doing a good job.

Sergei Penzov always tried to go ahead but not to do a needed amount of work. He was going ahead personally. All the logic of his actions was to complete the acclimatization quickly and to prepare for a summit attempt, but not to ensure the safe way. He had a strong motivation for the summit without much thinking about others. It affected the results. Sometimes the underfulfilments of the task were reasonable, but sometimes the group did less then expected. They did the necessary minimum for the expedition and then worked for themselves. It also can be said about the pass from the 4th camp to the hanging glacier. Of course, we needed it, but Sergei went to reconnaissance alone. Why couldn't he take Igor Benkin with him to explore the way and to fix ropes? He went alone to get more chances for further ascent. He went above the 4th camp still, without fixing ropes, got tired and needed some rest. From one point there was certain logic in that, but from another point he was working for himself.

It was exactly the same when, moving from the 4th to the 5th camp, they didn't take an extra tent and gas cylinders. It was an extra luggage, but it was necessary for the summit attempt. When on August 13th they were bivouacking at 8,000m, they used all the minimum that they had stored for themselves. The results were sad. After returning from the summit they didn't have fuel or something hot to drink so they started weakening very quickly. They had to leave the 5th camp quickly not even having a chance to find Igor. If they had done all those things, there could be some chances. Every time a small concession or working for themselves and not for the team leads to such sad consequences. Of course, we can't judge the winners but in that case it was the victory of the whole team.

How does it usually happen? Those who reach the summit are the first in rating. It didn't happen in that case. The guys could see and understood everything. Sergei Penzov got the middle position in a rating list as did the other members of the group.

He didn't tell me anything. It became clear later. That's more than neglecting, that is a challenge, because there were no ropes, any incautious movement could be fatal - the man falls down. Here is just another way to express his "ego". First, he does something for himself and only after that he may think about the others. But what if something had happened? This means rescue operations, unnecessary troubles again... What for?

What happened then? The weather didn't let us go further, and we went down. The Udin's group went up from the "Chinese" camp. The estimation of the possibilities had been done. Luba Shvedova insisted on physical examination for everyone. The physical condition of those who had been on the mountain worried her a lot. She examined everyone and gave a conclusion. It was determined for everyone at what maximum altitude can he work. It became clear that there were only 7 people who were able to work at 7,500 and higher. The results were announced in the evening.

The guys were not satisfied. We were sorry that Volodya Udin, having done a huge amount of work, couldn't work on the high altitude anymore, because it would be fatal for him. Sergei Sokolov was frostbitten. He started arguing and explaining that he had always worked slightly frostbitten and that it was usual for him and so on. Even though, the guys who spent the night with him were telling us that every touch to his legs made him yell. I told Sergei strictly that he can lose not only his legs but his life. Luba thought the same.

We were sorry that the group of youths was not able to work. Vadim Melnikov was sick. Dosaev was feeling bad. After they had an examination, Luba didn't recommend them ascend anymore.

Volkov, Sabelnikov, Kolesnichenko, Jirakovskiy, Meshkov, Mariev and I were the group who could work. This meant that my quartet preserved its workability as a whole. Victor Kolesnichenko suggested us to split into two groups, because he was not feeling comfortable in our group. He is a natural-born leader and he claims to be a leader always. Constantly he has different suggestion and initiative. It's his nature.

We divided into 3 and 4. Our group consisted of Andrei Volkov, Andrei Mariev, and I. The leader of the group of 4 was Kolesnichenko. He was satisfied. Here he got the field of action, and it was his sphere. Unfortunately his initiative wasn't realized because the weather didn't get better. Everyone else had to be evacuating the camp.

I don't know how did the other guys estimate the final ascent of our group of 3. I suppose, they criticized us, may be even blamed us. The weather was storming down there and the guys could imagine how it was up on the route. By that time we spent 2 days waiting at 6,500m and then went up to 7,500m. I think, there were a lot of discussions and conversations. I asked the guys to record a tape with those thoughts and arguments, whether pro or contra. The only one who recorded his thoughts was Kolesnichenko. The others disappointed me in a sense. Luba had a hard time, taking everything to her heart. She was very emotional and couldn't give the rational estimation. That's why we didn't get real feedback.

Later I understood that the guys had envied us. For example, Udin said, 'OK, now you are heroes and you can tell everybody about it, and we just took a back seat'. Nobody supported him, but the opinion was expressed. It is ridiculous! Later he tried to explain his words saying that he had left equipment worth 2 million rubles ($400). But life doesn't cost 2 millions.

So, an attempt to form a group and to go up was unreal. Victor Kolesnichenko, seeing our condition and having understood that we didn't have any chances, agreed with me. Udin took the role of an offended and started forming a team, but nobody joined him. Everyone supported my opinion. We had an unpleasant, may be a conflict conversation. Nobody went up anymore. Nevertheless, we managed to keep the team and there were no serious disagreements. Volodya's manifestation was the only one, but he was a reasonable and a disciplined man and he accepted the decision I made.

Summing up, I can say that even though we had disagreements we preserved the relationships in our team. Everyone knew that the work had to be completed. The relationships were friendly and normal without offending, insulting, and claiming. That made me happy. The team had been formed successfully. Everyone did its job up to the end. Those who had not reach the summit were not offended too. The fact of being at 8,000m and seeing Gasherbrum is a good achievement by itself. We had been on such a route and had done such a job. The only occurrence that darkened the joy was Igor's death. If it were not so, we could say that the expedition was just perfect.

On our trekking back I suggested we conduct the 'Hamburg counting'. Each member of the team had to make a rating list, including everyone in there. Such things are widespread in sport teams, especially in gaming teams. It is made anonymous, without signature. So, each member of the team could be rated quite objectively. I was surprised by the fact that the guys responded so actively. Most of them returned their papers the same evening, even though I gave them a couple of days to think. They didn't hesitate. Everything was clear, but some of them didn't rate themselves.

The opinion of Kolesnichenko was a little bit different from the others'. On average, I think that the estimation was objective and correct. It was pleasant for me to see that Dosaev and Mariev had taken over the high position. I was glad that Udin was also rated highly. Everything is clearly visible in the expedition, you can't hide anything.

I think, the self-rating had happened too. After such expeditions you always split your life on two halves - "before" and "after" it. For example, Penzov and Ishutin were close friends before the expedition. I don't think they'll have the same relationships after.

To my mind, some substantial changes would occur in the group from Novosibirsk. I think, Meshkov and Jirakovskiy will work together, but they will not have serious joint projects. If Volodya Udin will analyze his actions, he will probably not take a role of a leader anymore. People trusted him thoroughly, because he brought them up, he was their coach, he was like a father and a mother for them. After that expedition the guys grew up themselves and saw that there could be other leaders. I think, the group will keep friendly relationships, because people are very intelligent.

The difficulty was the attitude towards Ilya Sabelnikov. To my mind, that man naturally took an outsider's position. I don't think anyone from our expedition would like to deal with him. He worked really hard, even though there were some weak points. But he behaved like a blue blood. Once someone had said that he is the Greatest Alpinist among us. So Ilya demonstrated that, estimating himself as one of the strongest, but turned out to be the last in rating. He was in our group. Two members of the group took the 1st and the 2nd positions, the other one took the 14th or the 13th, and he took the last position, the 20th. It was clear that Andrei and I will need other people in our team. It is necessary.

What else? There was an American in our expedition. Carlos Buhler had a different mentality, different ideas and life attitude and he understood the mountains differently. He accepted our rules, and we saw ourselves from his side. Frankly speaking, the comparison was not a favor for us. Carlos is thinking over every little thing. He always analyzes a finished action not to do the same mistakes again, and to have the material to study and to teach others. We don't have it. Andrei and I were the only ones to make the reflection of the results of each event in the expedition. Victor Kolesnichenko tried to do something similar. Carlos was a good example of a thinking climber. He evidently showed that it isn't enough just to do something, without any attitude. It seems offensive to me, because our guys are really intelligent. They are educated, mature, but they never learnt how to analyze their own actions. Neither a candidate of science Udin, nor almost a Ph.D. Meshkov, nor a famous geologist Jirakovskiy.

Why? That's sad. I suggested to everyone to record to tape his thoughts, but the idea was flagged in the air. I was irritated, and I was losing my temper. Why does Carlos speak, estimate, suggest? Why does he do things and our guys keep quiet? Why? The mountains are interesting and unique for them, and that's all. It might be offensive, but still mountains are not their life. Why? It is life. It is a peace of life, living in extreme situations that could be named the real life. That kind of life is more concentrated, more condensed that the rest of our existence. Some wonderful and extraordinary conclusions can be taken from that. It doesn't happen with us. Everybody has the following position: if Dusharin asks me to go to the next expedition, I'll go, but if he doesn't, that'll be OK with me. Why didn't he ask? Think about it. Why don't you want to organize the expedition yourself? They don't have such questions. Are you going to summit the next mountain? Do you need it? Maybe you don't? Is it your task or not? What did you come here for? Was that just going abroad? There are safer ways to do that.

All those things seem very offensive to me. I am sorry to find out that our people concede the West. From the technical point of view, our climbers are not less experienced than Carlos, but the attitude, understanding, knowledge and other things...

Actually, having compared those two expeditions (Everest and K2), I can proudly say that, concerning management and people's relationships, the K2 expedition was a lot better, even though the tragedy had happened. It was a lot more complicated technically - the route was unknown, we were informed much less. Our physical and psychological load was several levels harder. There were many questions without answers, but it was necessary to make quick decisions. I think the guys will remember the thing all their life. It's a pity that we didn't make a deep analysis. After the expedition we had an meeting and I thanked everybody, made a conclusion trying not to hurt anyone. I don't know, maybe someone was angry with me, but nobody showed it. Even Sergei Sokolov was calm, having heard unpleasant words from me. I think, the most guys would take part in such an expedition again. K2 was an extreme school. I hope that it was a great experience for everyone.