AdventureSport

Early Ascent: Alpinists Reclaim K2

Ossie Khan

04th July 2024 2 min read

This season has begun differently on K2. While commercial teams are still trekking in or acclimatizing on Broad Peak, a small group of alpinists has the mountain to themselves. For a brief moment, Chogori (the local name for K2) seems to have returned to its original, untouched state.

Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima from Japan are tackling one of the most ambitious projects of the decade: a new alpine-style route on the West Face of K2. The pair are currently at Camp 1, making exploratory day trips. On Sunday, they reached 6,700 meters before returning to Camp 1. Yesterday, they planned to climb even higher to assess conditions and explore their potential route.

French climber Benjamin Vedrines has an equally bold, albeit more sporting goal. He aims to set the fastest known time on K2 without oxygen or Sherpa support, completing the climb in a single day along the normal route. He then plans to paraglide down from the summit.

Vedrines and photographer/IFMGA guide Seb Montaz arrived at Base Camp ahead of the commercial teams and are acclimatizing quickly. They have already completed their first rotation to Camp 2, from where Vedrines paraglided down. On their second rotation, a blizzard stranded them at Camp 2 over the weekend, but Vedrines departed for Camp 3 yesterday. It’s unlikely that rope-fixing teams have reached that far, so they may be relying on old ropes and their own skills.

Today, Slovenian Ales Cesen and Briton Tom Livingstone are trekking up the Baltoro. Local outfitters say they have permits for K2 and Broad Peak, but their exact plans remain undisclosed.

“Here in the Karakoram, as elsewhere, the idea of mountaineering is changing significantly towards radical commercialization,” Cesen wrote from Concordia. “However, we are not giving up just yet, and the spirit of alpinism is still alive.”

The background in Cesen’s photo suggests they could reach the base of either K2 or Broad Peak tomorrow.

 

Source: https://explorersweb.com/k2-belongs-to-alpinists/

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