High wind clouds rush by the summit of Gasherbrum II and III. Our route up the southwest ridge starts just left of center and follows the obvious line, with the high camp located just below the summit pyramid.

Of course, first we have to get there. Our expedition was the first to arrive so we had to establish a route through the icefall (of which only the upper third is shown here). It took nearly three weeks just to reach the base of the mountain from our basecamp.