K2 Winter Summit: The Last Great Feat of Modern Mountaineering

Some stories have gotten lost in the headlines the past few months, and it’s not surprising. Between the chaos surrounding the Australian Open, a tightening Premier League race, and big decisions being made concerning international competitions for 2021, it’s easy to lose focus in the endless news cycle of pandemic Ireland. The Winter summit of K2 mightn't have received many of the coveted front page spots, but that should in no way mitigate the immense achievement of January 16th last.Standing at 28,251 feet, a mere 200 metres shorter than Everest, K2 has been the most elusive of climbs for mountaineers since it was first summited in 1954 and while more than 5,000 people have stood on top of Everest, less than 400 have climbed K2; it’s glaciers and seracs demanding the most technical maneuvers out of the seasoned climbers that attempt it each year. In fact, more people have stepped foot on the moon than on the summit of the mountain. Specific locations on K2 are notorious amongst the climbing community for the lives that have been lost there, the infamous bottleneck serac and chimney which stand just below the summit ridge, are regularly prone to avalanches that have seen the most skilled climbers tested. In 2008, 11 climbers perished in a single day on the mountain when part of the bottleneck collapsed; cutting the fixed ropes which climbers clinged to as they ascended. Limerick man Ger McDonnell was one of the fatalities after he left his position of safety lower down the mountain to help other climbers in difficulty higher up. The technicalities are just a microcosm of the challenges posed on a winter ascent; temperatures can drop to as low as -40 degrees celsius, and expedition data will tell you that for every four climbers that set out on a summit attempt, only three will return to camp. Climbing the mountain in any season is a challenge, but in winter it’s a death sentence. This year’s winter climbing season on K2 was not without casualty, with the passing of Spanish climber Sergi Mingote, who fell down a crevasse at lower altitude on the mountain the single fatality.After a month spent fixing ropes and making camp on the mountain, it was fittingly a 10-person team of Sherpas who would reach the summit on January 16th, marking the first winter ascent of K2; an accolade attempted by countless climbers over the past half-century. Led by Nirmal Purja, who made headlines last year when he climbed all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks in just under six months, the team had competition from the more than 60 climbers congregated at K2 base camp this season with the same objective in mind. Local news sources accounted for a 5pm summit time, in which the team members walked in unison towards the prayer flags on the summit, singing the Nepalese national anthem as they finished their gruelling 18-hour summit push. In a post on his Instagram page, Nirmal Purja announced that “the impossible is made possible”, declaring “history made for mankind, and history made for Nepal”. The feat was made all the more impressive considering no bottled oxygen was used at any stage during the expedition. Winds of over 120 kph impeded the team’s summit push, as they finally broke the previous high-altitude record set on K2 in winter almost two decades ago of 7,750 metres by a Polish expedition. Up until the successful Nepalese summit this January it was the last remaining peak of the 14 above 8,000 metres to be ascended in Winter. The team which was composed entirely of sherpas hailing from the region, attained deserved recognition and testament to the enduring work they commit to in the Himalayas, mostly to make the dreams of others a reality.Heads now turn to what the next record to be broken will be. The mountaineering world is starting to run out of the next-best thing at high-altitude, and the perennial race to outdo one another means the risks will get bigger and the challenges of previous decades are boring; climbers are running out of “firsts”, and the stakes are getting desperate. For the time being we can appreciate the historic efforts of January 16th, and the breath of fresh air that a team of sherpas has brought to a sport so saturated with brand endorsements, greed, and rat-races to be first on top.