ISLAMABAD: Climbers successfully climbed Gasherbrum I and II last week, but had to turn back on K2 despite clear weather because of deep snow and a danger of avalanches.

According to Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary Karrar Haidri, Sergi Mingote climbed his sixth 8,000-er in a year and Nirmal Purja from Nepal climbed his ninth. Atanas Skatov from Bulgaria climbed the 8,035 metre tall Gasherbrum II on July 18, his ninth 8,000-er, while Kazakh mountaineer Denis Urubko completed his acclimatisation by summiting and descending at incredible speed, he said.

However, climbers on K2 were not successful. Mr Haidri said veteran climber Mike Horn uploaded a video from camp II saying he was forced to retreat from 8,000 metres on K2 after the worst storm ever.

The Swiss mountaineer also posted on his website, saying: “It is never easy turning your back on a dream, especially when you’ve worked so hard to get so close. But that’s also what makes life so interesting, if it were easy to reach our goals, we would never learn to fight for them. Nature will always have the first word. K2 has taught me that lesson for the third time now. But this does not mean that I’ll be giving up on the dream of one day making it to the summit. Experiences like these make us stronger, more perseverant and more humble. I can therefore only be grateful for the opportunity in spite of my obvious disappointment.”

Mr Haidri told Dawn that climbers on K2 have returned to base camp and many were packing to return home.

He quoted some climbers as saying that they were almost sure not to make another attempt because there was too much snow above the bottleneck, is a treacherous location on K2. He said that if it were just deep snow some climbers would have gone ahead, but given the risk of avalanches it was probably best not to put lives at risk.

According to Mr Haidri, Fredrik Strang from Sweden said on social media: “It was my fourth attempt on K2 without supplemental O2. Twelve years of training, six months on the mountain overall, unprecedented favourable weather, no wind on July 18’s summit attempt, a full moon lit our way … and then waist to chest-deep snow on the last section — the traverse and the final 200 meter snow ramp – made it impassable and furthermore dangerous. Several people got caught in small but destructive avalanches that could have sent them into oblivion but luckily stopped.”

However, some participants enjoyed an exciting descent, including paraglider Max Berger, who jumped from a vantage point on K2, Mr Haidri said.

“While most climbers focused on either K2 and Gasherbrum II, Hungary’s Csaba Varga has just fought his way up Hidden Peak in 13 hours from Camp III to summit on July 18 and returned to base camp the following day,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2019