Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1. Jan Wolf did indeed recover. He had an exciting solo trek first to the Mandaras base camp, but realising that everyone there was already on
climbs, he continued on and made a solo ascent of Noshaq. I saw Jan off and on over the next few years until he was killed. His wife, Mrufka, was
tragically caught up in the 1986 disaster on K2. She went to high camp with Al Rouse but agreed she was going too slowly to go to the summit.
Rather than descend, she waited for Rouse to return and later died during the descent that only Kurt Diemberger and Willi Bauer survived. Jim
Curran's
K2: Triumph and Tragedy
tells that story.
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2. Jumars are mechanical ascenders that slide up the rope but lock when weight is put on them. By attaching one to the waist harness and one to
etriers, long slings with multiple loops for feet, it is possible to use a frog-like action to move upwards on the rope - step up, slide up the harness
jumar, sit and lock, slide up the etrier jumar, step up, slide up the harness, sit and lock, etc. - yes, it's that tedious.
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3. John Harlin was an iconic American climber whose vision was to make a new route directly up the centre of the north face of the Eiger. The
completed route is much harder than the original 1938 route. They sieged the face in 1966 and Harlin was killed falling from high on the face
when the rope he was jumaring snapped. Alex made the first alpine-style ascent just after Bandaka.
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