Who is First

DUSHARIN:
When we were returning down from our 'watch' we met the group of Udin in the cave. A little bit earlier we met the group from the international expedition. Krzysztof, Piotr, Ryszard and two Italians went on their summit attempt. According to their plan, they had to be leaving in 5 or 6 days with the caravan. It was their last attempt.

Krzysztof was thankful for the path we did. It saved the strength. On the 9th of August Krzysztof, talking by wireless, asked us to postpone the start of Udin's group on one day, because 9 people would not be able to fit into 2 tents at 8,000m. I said that I couldn't give such an order, and Udin had to decide himself. Volodya had nothing against it, we explained to them how to set our tent ("Kangchenjunga"). We had just fixed it, but didn't set, you remember. Volodya Udin and his group had reached 7,100m, but didn't go up to 7,500m till the 9th of August. Five members of the international expedition left upper camp at 2 a.m. on August the 10th. The weather got better, but still it was not perfect. Piotr and Ryszard decided to come back because of the weather conditions. Krzysztof left alone, pioneering the way up, because the Italians never did go forward. At about 8 p.m. they three were on the summit. Going down from the summit and having descended just 200m they found a small crevasse and spent the night there. Of course, their equipment was just perfect, but bivouacking at 8,400m without a tent was something cool. As the sun rose, they went down. At 8,000m the group of Udin met them with hot drinks. Having felt better, Krzysztof and the Italian guys went down.

Victor Kolesnichenko between the 2nd and the 3rd camps

International expedition members are ascending

Passage to the glacier above the 5th camp

The group of Udin was preparing for their summit attempt. The guys were fit, and had got enough acclimatization. All they needed was a good weather. But the weather was bad, and having reached 8,000m, the guys started arranging the 5th camp and fixing ropes. By that time the ropes were fixed till 8,000m, and there were another 80 meters of sling (5 mm rope) up to the pass to the hanging glacier. Krzysztof and the members of the international expedition were risking working without fixed ropes. At 8 a.m., after the Polish climbers had gone, Udin went up. He and his guys were not going to summit. They ascended to work. The amount of job they had done was just great. This day they had fixed about 10 ropes so there was a rather reliable way up to 8,200m. Having spent the night at 8,000m once more, they went down. Their descent took 24 hours, and they reached the ABC in the morning of the 13th. Volodya Udin was severely exhausted and Sergei Sokolov got his feet frostbitten.

Tea-drinking in the 4th camp

Sergei Penzov was one day late from the plan. He had been sitting in the ABC, waiting for the weather and listening to his intuition. On the 11th of August he and his guys spent the night at 7,100 (Carlos joined the group instead of Renat who had stayed at 6,500m). In the morning of the 11th we had been told by wireless that one of the Italians had got sick at 7,500m and that the international expedition members had no oxygen and no medicine. That's why Sergei, being consulted by Luba, rushed upward. After several injections the Italian felt better and dragged down following the fellows. At 7,100 he felt much worse, so Renat went up with oxygen and practically carried the Italian to the cave. It was 1 a.m. when they came. Actually, Renat saved the Italian's life.

VOLKOV:

It is hard to discuss those three days in the mountains. Of course, as an Alpinist Krzysztof had made a deed. The motivation was clear, because it was his fourth expedition to K2, and he had already summited 12 out of 14 8,000 meter peaks. Volodya Udin decided not to take the risk. They still had some time, and the group were fit and strong. So they could count on one more try. That's why Volodya "gave away" to Krzysztof that period of good weather of his own free will.

Volkov's diary

Dusharin's diary