K2: No-O2 for two and Sajid's second summit
- "Niels and Hugo have done it."
Announced their friends from Base Camp. Ten days after summiting Broad Peak in a long and grueling climb, Niels Jespers and Hugo Ayaviri have reached the top of K2 without supplemental O2 or high-altitude porters. Their feat, almost impossible if K2 were crowded, represents the silver lining of an extraordinary season.
A commercial team led by Garrett Madison, three international guides and a strong team of Sherpas have also made the summit. Madison's strategy has paid off: His team rested one day at lower Camp 3. Then, with the help of O2, they opted for a longer summit effort, with a brief rest at Camp 4.
The team consisted of more than 20 people and the names of the summiters will be known soon. According to the expedition leader's tracking device, after summiting they headed to Camp 3.
Elia Saikaly (here tracker), Sajid Sadpara, Fazal Ali and Pasang Kaji reached the summit shortly before 8 am. It was the fourth summit of K2 for Ali and the second for Sadpara, but it was not their primary objective.
The team had hoped to find and recover the bodies of Sadpara's father, Ali Sadpara, and his friends John Snorri and Juan Pablo Mohr. The remains were located two days ago. Despite the scant information and lack of details about realistic options for a recovery operation, there has been heated debate about what the climbers should do next. The fact is that it is up to the climbers to decide. No one else can decide how they should proceed.
Ashgar Ali Porik of Jasmine Tours, who manages the team's logistics at base camp, has just confirmed that the team will recover Ali Sadpara's body on the way down from the summit. They plan to move his remains away from the normal route, before returning to Base Camp. "Once at Base Camp, future plans will be announced," said Ali Porik.
Prohibited passage on the west ridge
Yesterday, Ian Welsted and Graham Zimmerman arrived at Base Camp after retreating nearly 7,000m on the west ridge of K2. Although they did not complete the ascent, their attempt makes for an amazing and very topical mountaineering story. They were thwarted by weather that was too good.
"The warmest temperatures either of us have ever experienced in the big mountains prevented us from making any progress," Zimmerman recounted upon their return. "We couldn't make any more progress due to near-constant avalanches and rock falls on the route."
The pair had to make progress at night and wait out the heat during the day. Temperatures in the shade reached 10°C at 6,900m.
"I knew the climate crisis was affecting these mountains, but I can't say I anticipated scorching on the second highest peak on the planet," Zimmerman reflected.
https://explorersweb.com/k2-no-o2-double-headers-and-sajids-second-summit/