The "Strip" is the piece of the glacier where Bc (=basecamp) is most comfortably built, with drinking water close at hand, i.e. at the left. The sanitary side is at the right of the camp. If every team keeps this arrangement then no one gets sick. The blue tent in the back is the Bc of the Catalan team.

View from basecamp to Doksam Peak over Savoia Glacier (at the right).

Thierry cutting Catalan bacon; exchanged for dutch chocolate.

Karim burning litter, with the camera-team producing video-footage.

Arjan has been busy for weeks learning how to make the generators work long enough to repair the broken one. Of course this was a most appreciated job, electricity could not be missed at any time.

Cas took my picture. I had most probably shaved shortly. As a 2nd doctor I didn't have a lot to do, but I tried to make myself useful in any way. Most of the time I didn't really know what to do.

Hans busy grooming. This was an important activity, for lots of time there is little to be done in Bc. From time to time activity bursts out (leaving or arrival of climbers or rearranging the big TENT), but then again nothing may happen for hours or days.

We tried to get accustomed with the oxygen-gear.

Only Ronald decided to take bottled oxygen to the top. The Hunza high-altitude porters were Ronalds secret in getting these heavy devices up the mountain.

Bert didn't care about oxygen. His shape was super.

Everyone had his personal tent. My tent most tidy.

Initially Wilco didn't bother a lot about the sun. After one sunny afternoon he did!

Karim (left) was the Hunza-cook and Jann his first assistant. 121_Basecamp TENT.jpg=Our VERY BIG meeting tent. In front the canal for draining the melting snow.

Initially everybody hurries when the sun hits the mountains at the end of the day. After hundreds of pictures we get a little used to the beautiful sceneries. At evenings...

Early mornings...

At plain daylights...

Inside this big dome-shaped tent Joost kept the video-editing equipment, the satellite-telephone, fax etc.

Ronald slept inside the big yellow dome. All the others had a blue, slightly smaller dome.

Here we caught an avalanchecoming down from K2 on the De Filippi Glacier. It stopped about 500 m from Bc!

We had very good weather most of the time, but we also got our share of fresh snow.

Bc viewed from Art Gilkey Memorial.

On our trips to Camp 1 we are confronted with the remains of a porter from a very long-ago expedition. The wallet of the porter showed coins from as early as 1913, as the discoverer of the body told us. Then already K2 was a killer-mountain.