Both Nepali teams have a long history of working together on 8,meter peaks, most notably in , when Purja succeeded in climbing all 14 8,meter peaks in a record 6 months, 6 days—shaving more than seven years off the previous fastest time. Nims was greatly aided in that effort by a small band of Sherpa friends, who took turns partnering with him on different mountains and have joined him now for K2.
For the Nepali climbers, the most difficult part of the climb may prove to be the descent, executed in a state of oxygen-starved exhaustion, achieved by rappelling several miles of fixed rope to reach true safety on the glacier at the foot of the mountain. For every three climbers who reach the summit of K2, approximately one dies somewhere on the mountain—and many of those fatalities occur while going down. As of 10 p. In remote Nepal, new roads bring opportunity—and conflict. Underscoring the risk, reports are circulating of the death of a Catalan—Spanish climber low on the mountain.
While armchair mountaineers around the world await news that all 10 Nepalis are safely down, dozens of mountaineers still in base camp are left to consider their options. All rights reserved.
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Nobody has yet managed to climb above 7, metres during the winter. Due to its geographical position, which is the most northerly of "the 8,", the atmospheric pressure is lower and the air therefore even thinner, making the ascent very technical. The mountaineers will have the help of fixed ropes, installed by the sherpas, who will also help the foreign climbers acclimatise to the altitude.
Different members of the team possess different talents. Nepalese mountaineer and former Gurkha, Nirmal Purja, is leading one of the teams. He has the talent and the determination to make it, but lacks experience in winter conditions. The varying ambitions of the individuals could also threaten the mission.
Some will want to go it alone, others will value the help of sherpas. There are also likely to be differing opinions on whether to use supplementary oxygen or not. According to Karrar Haidri, Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, most of the climbers hope to reach the summit without supplementary oxygen. But he had to give up before he completed the climb and is back to try again with two sherpa friends. Though around feet shorter than Everest, K2, on the border between China and Pakistan, has the highest ratio of deaths to climbs.
In , 11 climbers perished on K2 in one devastating day. Located at the border between China and Pakistan, K2 is around feet shorter than Everest, but professional climbers consider the ascent much more difficult. Nearly 80 people have died while climbing K2 and it's considered one of the most grueling climbs in the world.
And while nearly 4, people have attempted Everest, only have tried to climb K2. K2's climbing season is typically between June and August. Extreme weather makes it impossible to climb in all but the warmest temperatures. In , nearly climbers from around the world arrived at K2's base camp to attempt the climb. Each group intended to go up separately, spacing out their ascents in order to prevent traffic jams on the route. A series of snowstorms made it impossible to climb K2.
Climbers spent the summer months acclimatizing and preparing to head up when the weather cleared. They'd spent the previous days climbing up the camp, located at around 7, meters 25, feet , and set off to complete the final leg of the climb. Though each group spoke their own language and had made separate preparations for the summit, they came together to tackle the final leg.
Or at least that was the plan. The climbers were being led by a nine-person "trailbreaking group" made up of members from various climbing teams who were responsible for the fixing ropes along the course that would make it possible to safely summit.
But they got a late start on the trail. They also failed to bring enough rope to properly prepare the Bottleneck, a narrow rocky pathway with steep gullies, widely considered to be the most harrowing part of the climb. A serac — a block of glacial ice — hangs over the Bottleneck, threatening to fall on climbers at any moment.
As Norwegian climber Lars Nessa explained in "The Summit," "the main tactic is to minimize your time under the serac. As the trailbreaking group headed toward the Bottleneck, it became apparent that they'd begun fixing rope way too early on the course , which meant that not enough rope was left for the most difficult parts of the climb.
The group of 25 was brought to a standstill as climbers had to move back down the course to collect rope in order to move forward. At around 4 p. Climbers watched as he tumbled down the side of the mountain and skidded to a stop.
Mandic briefly stood up, and then collapsed again. Some of his Serbian teammates descended to attempt to help him, but it was too late. Mandic was dead. While attempting to move Mandic's body, the second death occurred.
Jehan Baig, a high altitude porter from Pakistan who'd been hired by the French team, appeared to suffer from oxygen deprivation and began acting erratically.
He slipped and plunged to his death. The first set of climbers reached the summit at around p. Hours passed as one by one they celebrated reaching K2's peak. Because of the late start, they would be descending back down to Camp 4 in the dark. Around p. As the heavy, sharp ice fell upon the group, Norwegian climber Rolf Bae lost his footing.
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