ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: A record number of 127 mountaineers from 12 different expeditions had launched climbing bids on K-2 this season with 43 of them having already reached the summit , surpassing the previous record of 29 climbers going all the way on this peak, set in 1996.

These K2-bound climbers were among the over 1,300 trekkers and mountaineers from 66 foreign expeditions which had undertaken their respective campaigns in Karakoram and Himalayan ranges this summer in the golden jubilee year of the first-ever conquest of the 8,611-meter-high K-2, the world's second highest peak.

Spain's Edurne Pasaban, 31, became the sixth female conqueror of K-2 when she reached the summit last week. All the previous lady conquerors of K-2 have died at high altitude - three on the treacherous descent of K-2 and the other two during attempts on mountain peaks in Nepal later on.

Another Spaniard, Carlos Soria, became the oldest person to summit K-2 at the age of 65 last week. Records were also smashed when climbers from China, Colombia and Romania became the first mountaineers from their respective countries to stand atop the highest mountain in Pakistan.