C’s a day that will be a milestone in the history of mountaineering. This Saturday, January 16, a team of Nepalese mountaineers successfully completed the first winter ascent of K2, the second-highest peak on the planet, which rises to 8,611 m. To better understand the extent of this feat, the K2 was the only “8000” that had never been climbed in winter, announced the Nepalese company Seven Summit Treks. ” We did it ! The rugged mountain of Karakoram was climbed during the most dangerous of seasons: in winter. Nepalese climbers finally reached the top of K2 this afternoon at 5 p.m. local (12 p.m. GMT), ”the company, which had a climber on the team, said on its Twitter account.
The ten Nepalese had planned to gather just below the summit of K2, located in the Karakoram massif and renowned as one of the most dangerous mountains in the world, to climb the last few meters together and plant their country’s flag there. Known for several decades for their aptitude for the high mountains, the Nepalese had never before placed the slightest climber on a first winter ascent of a summit of more than 8000 m, a specialty long remained the preserve of the Poles.
Extreme conditions
A handful of expeditions had previously attempted the winter climb, since the first attempt in 1987-1988. But no one had yet climbed above 7650 m. They all broke in the extreme conditions of K2, nicknamed the “wild mountain”. The K2 is subjected in winter to a very violent wind that can reach 200 km / h. Temperatures can drop to – 60 ° on the summit parts. Due to its geographical location (it is the most northerly of all “8000”), atmospheric pressure is also lower and air more scarce.
Winter is also harsher in the Karakoram than in the Himalayas, which explains why most of the Nepalese peaks over 8,000 m were overcome in winter as early as the 1980s, while the other four located in Pakistan, in addition to the K2, were in the years 2010. This year, no less than four different teams and sixty climbers were present on the K2, more in total than all the previous expeditions put together.
Members of three of the four initial teams, the Nepalese regrouped to set the fixed ropes to Camp 4 on Friday at an altitude of 7800 m. Then, they chose to be daring by taking advantage of a window of good weather, without wind, to attack the summit, this Saturday, January 16.
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