7/26/99
It sure looked a lot better when I woke up this morning. Piotr, Carlos, and I met at the mess tent for breakfast, quickly filled our packs, and set out for Camp I leaving by nine o'clock in the morning.

We walked through the moraine trying to find an ice bridge to cross several streams to the beginning of the climb. The ice was now covered by fresh snow, and it led onto a 45° or 50° slope of mixed rock, ice, and water. We replaced several sections of fixed lines to Camp I, avoiding the showers and rockfalls.

"The ice was now covered by fresh snow, and it led onto a 45° or 50° slope of mixed rock, ice, and water..."

In five hours, we were at 5700 meters. My pack was close to 60 pounds, and I could feel it. I threw up for the first time five minutes before reaching camp. I felt much better and stronger after that.

7/27/99
We set off from Camp I right after sunrise hoping to reach Camp II in two or three hours. It was clear then and sunny, and it got very hot quite fast which we did not quite expect. It represented a significant improvement in the weather.

After one hour on the 50° snowfield, I found myself crossing a rock band and with the heat and weight of my pack, felt a sudden loss of strength, but caught up with Carlos who had left half an hour earlier than me. We replaced several sections of fixed rope.

As I reached Camp II, I started throwing up again. So Piotr and I set a camp and decided to stay at 6200 meters instead of going for two more hours towards Camp III at 6500 meters.

7/28/99
I felt quite dehydrated, but my stomach rejected any kind of food or drink. Anything I smell or put in my mouth, goes out as fast as it gets in, but I've got to continue.

I set off again with my heavy pack, but optimistic with the idea of reaching at least the camp at 6800 meters and the clear blue sky. As I gained elevation and went through a 65° section of rock and ice, I started throwing up again, again and again which slowed my progress considerably and I lost sight of Piotr.

"Anything I smell or put in my mouth, goes out as fast as it gets in, but I've got to continue..."

The hours went by and I was increasingly dehydrated, but could not hold any fluid, not a candy, not a dry biscuit.

When I reached the camp at 6500 meters, I just dropped my pack and met with Ramon Casadevall and decided to stay here. We simply did not have the strength to go any higher. We dug out a tent buried in the snow that had been left by the Germans, and found ourselves working for five hours under the intense sun beating even harder on the snow-covered ice.

In the end, we just crawled in the tent to rest and called Piotr, who had reached the camp at 6800 meters, to tell him that I was too weak to meet with him then while I was still throwing up, unable to eat or drink.

7/29/99
We got a weather forecast that was predicting two more days of good conditions, but it is kind of cloudy. I am still unable to drink or eat which is quite rare for me. Usually, it takes a couple of hours to recover and start drinking and eating normally, but last night, my condition worsened and I kept throwing up while Carlos reached camp determined to go down.

Ramon and I decided to stay here during the day. I feel I can only go higher if I can hydrate and eat something.

A few hours later, my condition was a little better. I had been able to drink some water, have some noodle soup and a couple of biscuits. The Catalans and Carlos Soria are planning on leaving at 11pm for the summit from 6800 meters while Piotr and Mr. Park from Korea would leave at 2am from 7200 meters towards the summit as well.

"Ramon and I see two Koreans walk by our tent very slowly, extremely tired, and offered for them to use the empty tent next to ours which they refused..."

Ramon and I see two Koreans walk by our tent very slowly, extremely tired, and offered for them to use the empty tent next to ours which they refused, and continued down when it got dark.

7/30/99
The weather closed in on us through the night and it snowed and snowed and snowed. I could hear every flake hitting our tent during this long and sleepless night. With it, we all were changing our minds. Ramon and I thinking of going to 7200 meters, had lost radio contact with Base Camp, but it was obvious that we had no chance to continue. We were totally stuck in a gray cloud, our tent covered with four inches of snow, and the visibility limited to just a couple of feet.

At 7am, most of the Catalans were on their way down demoralized by the frustrated summit push. Ramon and I packed the tent and stored most of our gear in the empty one next to us, thinking of coming back up when the weather gets better. In about three hours, we were by the lower Camp I feeling extremely weak and relieved at the idea of going back down to Base Camp.

On the way, I met one of the Koreans we had offered the tent to during the previous night who, in his bad English, offered some tea. When I sat next to him, he asked if I had seen his partner who went by with him the previous night. We struggled in our conversation where he could explain that he had not seen him since the previous night soon after they walked by our tent at Camp 6500 meters. We sat down for a few minutes and I told him that I had not seen him, not at 6200 meters, nor at 5700 meters. Their tents, at those camps, looked quiet and empty. He suggested he would wait a bit more while I continued down.

"When I sat next to him, he asked if I had seen his partner who went by with him the previous night...I had not seen him, not at 6200 meters, nor at 5700 meters..."

The snow soon became rock, and I was surprised to see the fixed lines go right through a waterfall and caught up with three more of the Catalans. We all took a shower of water and sand and gravel while I kept looking up into the glacier for the missing Korean climber.

After reaching Base Camp exhausted, weak, and wet, I could force some soup into my system without throwing up for the first time in five days. At about five o'clock in the afternoon, three of the Catalans and I, intrigued by the news, went to the Korean camp. We were then struck with the news that this 26-year-old climber had been spotted with a telescope, lying face down between Camp II and Camp I and was presumed dead.

He was definitely the one I had seen the previous night walking by us at 6500 meters, exhausted, but refused anyhow our offer to rest in the tent next to ours. What a big mistake, and what a high price to pay.

7/31/99
Piotr came down last night from 7200 meters along with two Koreans, Mr. Park and Mr. Lees, the leaders from the Korean team. Their morale is extremely low after what has happened.

Piotr and I went to the Korean camp with some of the Catalans to give our condolences and apologize for the confusion and disagreements about the tents. They tell us then that what they had seen the previous day was not the body but the climber's jacket.

"The rest of the team, their members now at Base Camp, could not see nor find their teammate's body anywhere on the mountain, and the weather is only worse..."

The rest of the team, their members now at Base Camp, could not see nor find their teammate's body anywhere on the mountain, and the weather is only worse with very low clouds which are reducing our visibility. The snow is definitely amassing. Avalanches of dirty gray snow and rock are more and more frequent while the monsoon seems to be setting in. It is again raining in Base Camp where raindrops and teardrops are mixing.

We can only offer some Spanish wine or vodka to the Koreans who are trying to drown their pain, their sorrow as if it would flow with the stream next to our camp, cold and clear, icy stream.

8/1/99
The Canadian film team, lead by Pat Morrow, left yesterday or the previous day. The Austrian team did so too after the leader heard that his 25-year-old son died in an avalanche on a mountain just a couple of days away from Base Camp. The French are burning garbage in their incinerator with an amazing speed, and the huge pile of bags full of garbage is getting smaller.

Some of the members of the Catalan team are leaving in a few days: demoralized, frustrated, but determined; others are recovering: eating, drinking, waiting for the good weather and face another push to the summit.

It rained all night. It is raining now. And the clouds remain very low barely allowing us to see above 6000 meters during the whole day.

Meantime, nothing has changed about the Korean climber. Piotr and I are discussing a possible quick ascent, very light, even if the weather is not in ideal conditions. But we still have a few more days. Patience, patience…eating, drinking, reading, short walks around camp, and trying to figure out why several of us are afflicted with diarrhea over and over.

Often times during these long hours, I wonder why I am asking myself why. What are we here for? Instead of packing up after what happened on K2...on Broad Peak during the past few days, I feel it is important to face the climb with care, with open eyes, with an open mind. Facing it in the wrong way, with ambition, with pride and blindness, would simply lead us into the next crevasse where our empty and lifeless body would be the result of a useless conquest never to be met in this magic kingdom of nature.

— Tommy Heinrich, MountainZone.com Correspondent