Paiju Peak : All measured. All calculated. Meticulous work, effort and patience

All measured. All calculated. Meticulous work, effort and patience,” are some of the words the three Spaniards describe ascending the 1000m Big Wall on Paiju South Peak. Moving upwards 20 meters an hour, Mikel Zabalza described it as some of the frightening/ugliest climbing in his life.

Alberto Inurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza are currently at Camp 3, between 5,700 and 5,800m (“due to changes in barometric pressure the altimeter gives variations that reach 150 meters at one point.”) The ropes and hammocks were fixed up to 5500 m during their previous rotation.

The three climbers and their cameraman, David Maeztu, have left BC (3,400m) on July 19 with their remaining gear for the summit attempt. They carried on to Camp 2, 5,500m on the Big Wall and reported lots of ice during the climb, which were strenuous, technically difficult and unstable.

This is alpine climbing in the Karakoram with very technical climbing, looking for cracks and rock tips that allow them to climb up the vertical wall to the last 600 m of ice, rock and snow leading to the mountain top of Paiju Peak. They hang on their ropes for hours, thousands of feet above the ground, "relaying only the metal nails, whose safety depends on your skill to fit them,” they say.

"Scaling down to sleep, scale back the next day and so on gaining yards in the wall to find a point to move the camp. Remove everything, carry it up the wall and back to mount, to ensure all the material so that nothing falls into the vacuum."

Inurrategi, Vallejo and Zabala plan to reach the end of the pillar tomorrow and Friday. Cameraman Maetztu is back to BC to recharge batteries. Starting on the 19th they expect to be at the top (6,610m) and back in 12 days.