The third phase of the Italian Military Shipment at the Gasherbrum IV of the Italian Army opened after the 21km run along the Baltoro glacier and reached the Base Camp.
Immediately conditioned by bad weather, many days were dedicated to the preparation of the field and a good psychophysical recovery waiting for consistent weather areas to continue the climb and the preparation of the 1 field and later.
Sunday 24 June Army alpinists were able to take advantage of a brief period of good weather to go and scour the area adjacent to the Base Camp. Revealed far from trivial, between crevasses and towers of ice, bringing with it some of the equipment necessary for the assembly of the 1 Camp, the climbers have climbed up to 5550 altitude slm but, forced by bad weather driven by the icy winds of Gasherbrum , after installing the storage tent they all reluctantly returned to the Base Camp.
Again, on Tuesday 26 June, three of the five mountaineers (corporal major Marco Majori, corporal chosen Marco Farina and the alpine guide of Lecco Daniele Bernasconi) climbed to an altitude of 5750 meters above sea level, moving the deposit of materials higher. , but again, for safety reasons and due to poor visibility and constant snow, I returned to Base Camp instead of spending the night at high altitude. The other two members of the group, the expedition leader, Major Valerio Stella and the chosen corporal Maurizio Giordano, remained at the Base to organize the material needed for the higher camps.
The low pressure continued unabated until the day of the 1 July, forcing everyone to remain forcibly at the Base Camp. Just on the first day of the month come updates from nearby expeditions and we learn of the arrival of the Aosta Valley Hervé Barmasse, a famous mountaineer who, together with David Gottler, will attempt a new route on the south-west on the GIV. At the same time, the attempt of Cala Cimenti and his companions on the GII is set just the 1 July after an exhausting ascent of 15 hours, having to track under a continuous blanket of snow towards the 1 field. So I return to Cimenti and many question marks for the many other mountaineers stopped at the Gasherbrum Base waiting for a significant improvement of the weather, settling the slopes and assessing the safety conditions for the continuation of acclimatization.
During the waiting period the Italian Army's alpini continued the exercises and the collection of data on some aspects considered fundamental during the planning phases of the expedition. Among these, emerges the operational capacity to constantly transmit positions, health conditions and information necessary to maintain the safety of the members of the expedition, in parallel with the ability to provide useful information for the promotion and communication on the development of the shipment.
Another fundamental point identified by the mountaineers of the High Mountain Military Section, after the experience at Chamlang (Nepal) in the 2016 summer, is the observation of the conditions of the mountain and the Himalayan glaciers that are the subject of major changes related to climate change. Together with the geologist and mountaineer Daniele Bernasconi, the Alpini have already been able to witness in person an important transformation of the great Abruzzi glacier and of the seracs that divide the expedition from the Bonatti Mauri ridge. Great labyrinths, transformed and tormented ice and the experience of those remote places who live there for some time as the person in charge of the camp, "Wahab" talking to the group about how inexplicable a particular climate situation for the season is Karakorum mountain range.
The past winter, says the Pakistani guide, has been very dry, little snow has fallen in altitude while now the situation is completely overturned; the low pressure does not find a way out of these massive massifs that exceed all the 6000mt of altitude and it is now almost two weeks that this very disrupted weather does not give a respite, making daily snow fall to the ground at Base Camp up to 50 centimeters.
The prohibitive weather conditions did not discourage the 5 Army mountaineers. Monday 02 July in fact, reach and mount the 1 Field at 6000 altitude mt slm starting at 05.00 from the Base and crossing the great seracIce Fall in 7 hours. Despite the linear distance that divides the two fields is relatively short (about 4km), the real development traveled by the two ropes exceeded slightly the 10km. Even the overall difference in height that on the map is 900 mt was almost double because of the different salts and downs imposed by the large crossings crossed. Majori, Farina and Bernasconi arrived at the 1 Camp towards the 12.00 and already at 14.30 Majori and Bernasconi descended towards 5600 altitude slm to equip well the way of ascent until the return to the 1 Camp towards the 19.00.
After a rather lean dinner with freeze-dried bags, the five climbers spent a difficult night with temperatures down to -14 ° C and a veil of frost enveloping each object when they awoke. Having received the meteorological forecasts from the Aosta Valley weather service on time, upon awakening on 3 July, the five members of the expedition rearranged the material carried with difficulty at high altitude and set off for Base Camp anticipating the incoming bad weather and expected until Friday 6 July.
The descent was an opportunity to study the best lines of ascent for the subsequent camps and, as reported by the expedition leader, to finally see the seracade of the Italians closely, has revived the spirit of the whole group. The awakening of Wednesday 4 July, apparently reported the mountaineers to the harsh reality that they are facing the different expeditions present at the base camp. New snowfall, abundant, to cover the tracks along the 10km towards the 1 Field and beyond. The eyes of many mountaineers are now projected into the mists of the ice, waiting to scrutinize the rocky ridges that should be seen starting from Friday evening, when a new window, this time of a few days, could finally offer the opportunity to proceed to higher odds towards the 2 field and beyond for better acclimatization.
