The team arrived back in Islamabad yesterday - the lucky team I've called it as two of us survived almost uninjured very long falls , myself down 30 meters of rock and Dimitar some 300m down snow and ice. 

Climbing conditions in the Karakorums were extremely bad and dangerous. Heavy snow falls in the winter combined with an intense monsoon meant lots of treacherous snow. Unfortunately I managed to lose my backpack containing my sleeping bag, tent, warm clothing and passport off of a cliff during my fall putting me out of the climb. I was stuck at camp with the bike for 5 straight days of snowfall.

Zdeno with Dimitar pushed on to the end. But eventually they conceded defeat and it was on the down climb that the fixed rope Dimitar was on suddenly vanished, presumably cut in an avalanche, and he went hurtling down the snow slope.

 
These are some initial photos on the walk out - in the next days I will write a fuller report, download and post some of the main photos. 
For now , greetings from Islamabad , Pakistan where I am waiting for a New Passport.

My first contact with Zdeno was December 1st 2014 - 3 1/2 months have past since we first started scrambling ideas around about 8000m peaks and bikes and just 3 1/2 months remain till we leave for Pakistan. I couldn't have found a better organizer than Zdeno for such a mission and he has been a great organizer and seems to be incessantly on the job.  The activity level is going to become much more intense in these coming months.  Gear to arrange , visas and flights , training no doubt and all the time  the quest for funds to pay for it all. Having a short time frame has its advantages - no time to hesitate or doubt - only the will for action. 

“Climbing for me is more than a sport,” writes mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner in his latest book, My Life at the Limit. “Climbing is all about freedom, the freedom to go beyond all the rules and take a chance, to experience something new, to gain insight into human nature… For me, imagination is more important in climbing than muscle or daredevil antics.”