The two extreme athletes and speed climbers The two extreme athletes and speed climbers Benedikt Böhm and Sebastian Haag wanted to climb up and ski down Pakistan's Broad Peak in the shortest possible time. But miserable weather turned the tour into a race against time...
Sebastian Haag (30) and Benedikt Böhm (31) have their own approach to the highest mountains; they call it "speed climbing". Usually, extreme mountaineers fight their way up eight-thousanders in stages: from camp 1 to camp 2 and on and on, carrying a lot of luggage (tent, food, sleeping bag?) in order to reach the summit one fine day. The two Munich residents, on the other hand, conquer the highest mountains from base camp - with a light backpack and skis to save time on the descent. This worked well on Mustagh Ata (7546 meters) in 2004 and on Gasherbrum II (8034 meters) in 2006. In 2007 on Manaslu (8163 meters), only an avalanche slope just below the summit forced them to turn back prematurely. This year, they wanted to climb one of the few eight-thousanders that can be skied, the 8051-metre-high Broad Peak. They wanted to be back at base camp after 18 hours - they wanted to. Because the race against the clock turned into a race against death.
You wouldn't think it possible. Basti and Bene chat with journalists and sponsors in the garden of the Alpine Museum in Munich. The Sunnyboys as you know them. Tanned, drinking wheat beer, simply casual. Didn't they just show dizzying pictures of their latest expedition? Photos with battered faces that told of superhuman exertions? And didn't they mention details that have the makings of mountain drama?
Review: We see the high-speed mountaineers, specialists since their school days, trekking to base camp in straw hats (Basti) and lederhosen (Benedikt). Escorted by a group of local porters. We see them pitching their tents at base camp. We follow the preparations, the preliminary feeling. Where is the best route for the speed ascent? What is the snow like on the steep slopes of around 50 degrees? Powdery? Is it sticky? We see Basti and Bene bivouacking on the almost vertical snow face to get used to the altitude. So far, so good.
Then the storm and snowfall come and won't let up for ten days. Basti and Bene kill time with a game of sheepshead. They make friends with Cristina Castagna, an Italian mountaineer of the same age. She writes dreamy poems on the walls of the tent - poetry that will remain behind like a memento mori, but more on that later. When the solar panels are working, Bene and Basti listen to radio plays or watch DVDs.
A ray of hope finally arrives via satellite phone from the weather prophets in Innsbruck: July 17 is set to be the best of the bad weather days. Basti and Bene set off the evening before, at 10.15 pm. In their luggage - actually only 20 Powerbar gels, three liters of hot water, warm clothes, emergency medicine.
3250 vertical meters to the summit lie ahead of them. They are making good progress. Until fate begins to change. The hydration bladder in Basti's backpack has leaked. Basti, the gifted skier who has been skiing since he was a dwarf. Basti, the level-headed one. At 7000 meters, at camp 3, he feels tired and cold. If one has to take a break, the other goes on. That's what they agreed beforehand. Basti takes an hour's break, melts snow into drinking water. Bene climbs further and quickly catches up with a group of climbers who had started early in the morning on Camp 3. The key point at 7800 meters. From here to the right up a ridge to the pre-summit and on to the summit. So much for the theory.
In practice, Bene and the mountaineers have to take turns making tracks in the waist-deep snow in order to make reasonable progress. They need almost four hours for the next 200 vertical meters! By the time they reach the pre-summit, it is 2.30 p.m. - more than 16 hours after the speed climbers set off. Basti and Bene had planned to turn back by 3 p.m. at the latest. There are only 20 vertical meters between Bene and the main summit, but in the form of another exposed and overgrown ridge. Although he feels strong as a bear, Bene decides to turn back. The other climbers do the same. They enjoy their little summit happiness and hug each other. No one has reached the pre-summit of Broad Peak for a year and a half. Sebastian arrives at the pre-summit completely unexpectedly. He's at the end of his tether,
"I've never seen Basti in this condition before,
says Bene at the press meeting in Munich. Basti: "I ran after him far too quickly. That was certainly a mistake." Bene: "He then injected himself with cortisone. But it didn't work at all."
On the descent along the exposed ridge - any misstep can be fatal - Basti staggers precariously and has to be taken on a short rope by a Swiss mountaineer. A ski descent is now out of the question anyway. Bene has only one worry left: getting his mountain friend to Camp 3 safely so that he can survive the night there. They are so focused on their own survival in the death zone that they don't even notice a trail of blood in the snow.
It's only hours later that they find out it's Cristina's blood. She has fallen hundreds of meters while descending from the pre-summit and died. Completely depressed, Basti and Bene set up camp 3 for the icy night. The three of them and Cristina's partner in the Italian couple's tent. Basti even slips into Cristina's sleeping bag. It still smells of her. Impious? No. She would certainly have wanted it that way.
After an almost sleepless night without food or drink, Basti and Bene continue their descent. Basti's condition improves with every meter of altitude they lose. They strap on their skis and feel their way down into the valley, turn by turn. 39 hours after setting off, they reach base camp. They had been on the road twice as long as planned. But who cares? They are alive.
And so no one at the Alpine Museum talks about failure. "The pre-summit was the summit for me", is how Bene interprets the most recent expedition. He still believes in his approach: "Overall, it strengthened me personally because I realized that I feel extremely good up there and have the power to pull off such speed ascents. This discipline has convinced me despite the experience." Basti seems more undecided: "I cannot yet assess how this experience will change my life."
For the time being, however, they will both take a break from the expedition for at least a year. They will work in their regular jobs as a vet (Basti) and sporting goods manager at Dynafit (Bene). And they want to enjoy the local mountains. Like the Hirschberg, which they have probably already run up 500 times for training purposes. "But we've never been over to the main summit", says Bene.
Taken with kind permission from our friends at www.monte-welt.com.
Text: Ingo Wilhelm
Photos: Sebastian Haag/Benedikt Böhm
Further information including videos from the speed ascent can be found at 4-seasons.tv/broad-peak
