A team of Sherpas has achieved one of the most coveted achievements of mountaineering: the first winter climb of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, and the only one of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters in height that was never climbed during Winter .
Ten Sherpas, including Nirmal Purja, a former Gurkha and a member of the United Kingdom’s special forces who had climbed all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters in just over six months, reached K2 in Pakistan on Saturday. They left their camp high at 1 am in an attempt to reach the top through Spur Abruzzi in temperatures as low as -40C, but with a light wind and bright sun.
K2 was first climbed 66 years ago by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli; there have been six previous attempts in the winter on the mountain, none of them successful.
In the world of high altitude climbing, which has long been dominated by western climbers and expeditions that relied on the Sherpas to assist them, the climb – and by such a large team – is an extraordinary achievement for Nepalese mountaineering.
The team finally reached the summit at 5 pm local time, waiting until everyone was gathered before singing the national anthem of Nepal and coming down.
K2 was the last 8,000 m peak awaiting a winter climb after Nanga Parbat was climbed in 2016. Winter climbs from the world’s highest mountains are extremely rare, and the technical and climatic challenges at K2 have outweighed attempts determined by some of the strongest climbers in the Himalayas.
In a summit statement, Purja said: “What a journey. I am honored to say that, as a team, we have overcome the magnificent K2 in extreme winter conditions.
“We set out to make the impossible possible and we are honored to share this moment, not just with the Nepal climbing community, but with communities around the world.
“Mother nature always has bigger things to say and being at the top, witnessing the absolute strength of her extremities, we are proud to have been part of human history and to show that collaboration, teamwork and a positive mental attitude can push boundaries to what we feel may be possible. “
A winter climb of the 8,611 meter K2 was considered by many to be an impossible task due to adverse weather conditions. Attempts at K2 are usually made in July or August, during the hottest periods – and only 280 people made it to the top, compared with 3,681 who made it to the top of Everest. Climbers have been interested in climbing the K2 in winter since the mid-1980s, not long after Everest’s first ascent in winter.
Before Saturday’s successful climb, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, one of the summit team members, stressed the importance for the Sherpa community of making the first winter climb. “For all the other 8,000 summit participants in the winter, no Sherpa were with them, so this is an opportunity for Sherpas to demonstrate their strength,” he said.
“In addition to the climbers, all climbers count on the help of the Sherpa to make their 8,000-meter peak dreams come true. I helped several foreign climbers to reach the summit of 8,000 different climbers. I was a little surprised to see no Sherpa on the first climb of winter. So, this climb is for the entire Sherpa community, which is so well known by our friends and customers from different countries ”.
The team took advantage of a brief climatic window on the mountain, famous for the strong winds that hit it, especially during the winter months, to climb a high camp 7,350 meters from where they launched their summit attempt.
The rise was quickly hailed as a historic achievement. “It’s done,” tweeted the Karakoram Club, an online community that celebrates the area of the Himalayas where K2 is located. “History books have been rewritten.”
Mountaineer Steve Razzetti tweeted: “The history of mountaineering is being made while I post this. The Sherpa climbing team is above the bottleneck and heading for the summit in perfect winter conditions. “
Alan Arnette, who has long chronicled Himlalayan’s ascents, placed climbing in a historical perspective in the American climbing magazine Rock and Ice.
“The fact that this last holy grail of mountaineering falls into the hands of a Sherpa and Nepalese team is a sign that the scales of high altitude mountaineering are changing.
“Since Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal made the first climb of Annapurna in 1950, becoming the first humans to rise to the summit of an 8,000 meter peak, climbing the 14 highest mountains in the world has been an imperialist undertaking and colonialist.
“The Sherpa’s have been the backbone of this company – transporting supplies, taking care of the camp, repairing ropes – but they have not reaped any of the glory or the benefits.”
As news of the summit’s success surfaced, it was also reported that a Spanish climber had died on the mountain.