Watch the Team's first attempt on the Abruzzi Spur.

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I woke before dawn, with thoughts of three Sherpas and three Koreans racing through my mind. They reached Camp 4 late yesterday, after wading through waist deep snow in a nine-hour struggle from Camp.

They should be headed for the summit.

Don, Bruce and I returned to base camp today, after spending two nights at Camp 2. As you know, a freak snow storm struck the upper reaches of K2, dumping over 2 feet of snow, with winds of 40-50 mph tearing at our tent. It made for a "cozy" camping experience, with the three of us and all our gear inside the vibrating tent.

The Annapolis Capital newspaper ran an article June 18, 2007. [ Read it here ]

The Baltimore Sun paper is covering the Expedition on www.baltimoresun.com/k2. [ Read it here ]

The Baltimore Sun "Summit beckons, but storm puts K2 effort on ice " By Candus Thomson. Originally published June 27, 2007.

The Baltimore Sun "Storm stalls Annapolis man's K2 climb " By Candus Thomson Originally published June 26, 2007.

The Baltimore Sun "Why K2? " By Candus Thomson Originally published May 31, 2007.

**UPDATE** (Tuesday night). We received further news this evening that high winds are predicted to move in on Thursday, lasting for several days.

As of this evening, over two and a half feet of snow had fallen on Camp 2 and we could still hear it pelting the climbers' tent when we last spoke to them by radio a few minutes ago. The continuing weather and avalanche conditions will dictate their next movements but it is likely they will await a safe opening and descend making the five hour trip back to base camp tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

We will continue to keep you posted.

Joel Shalowitz

As I awoke to the patter of snow on my tent at 3 am. Later, the sounds of several distant avalanches continued throughout the rest of the early morning. The signs were quite clear that the weather had again taken a turn. By first sunlight a scan of the mountain and the base camp valley basin revealed nothing but dense tempestuous fog. When Chris radioed down at 6:30 am it was confirmed that in the night an unexpected snowstorm had swept across the mountain leaving the climbers with whiteout conditions and 10 meter visibility.

The Abruzzi Spur (a.k.a. The SE Ridge) is the Shared Summit Team's new goal! Healthy and acclimatized, they are in position to summit as early as this Thursday!

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Well, as we have been reminded time and time again - the only thing we have learned to expect at K2 is the unexpected.

As you know, after finding the original East Face route impassable, the climbers huddled to assess the situation and identified a new unclimbed ridge to pursue. Returning to Base Camp, they reviewed the weather forecast, hashed out logistical strategies and set out last Wednesday, first to ABC, and then to Camp 1, with plans to use the next days setting fixed lines, hauling up equipment and establishing Camps 2 and 3. They would then return back to Base Camp to rest and wait out the expected snowstorm this weekend before making the summit push next week. To a man, they left ABC with tremendous confidence, given the weather conditions and their success thus far pushing the route. And this success continued through the end of the week as they ascended higher this season than any other team on that side of the mountain. Unfortunately, with the approach of the weekend, so too came a change in circumstances.