Chogori is a killer mountain. Extreme peak: Climbing the K2 peak K2 killer mountain

- second highest Mountain peak in the world, and the first in terms of mortality. Today this is no less famous peak than. The height of Chogori is 8,611 meters above sea level, which is only 237 meters lower than Everest.

Chogori - killer mountain

But there is something else about this mountain that makes thousands of climbers worry about it: its inaccessibility. In common people, Mount Chogori is called “mountain of death” or “killer mountain.” The fact is that K2 is one of the most technically complex mountain ranges.

Mount Chogori also called "K-2". The second name spread spontaneously after one of the researchers numbered the peaks visible in front of him, one of them was Chogori.

A regular pyramid, with steep snow slopes, becomes inaccessible even to experienced climbers. The mountain has 66 deaths. The mountain's mortality rate is 25%. And there are not even 300 people who have conquered it. In addition, there are isolated cases where a climber was able to climb the mountain twice. The mountain in this regard is much more difficult than the peak in Nepal.

No one climbed Chogori in winter. A successful ascent to K2 and the subsequent descent from the summit today take several days (not counting preparation); climbers usually use 3-4 base camps and Balti porters instead of Sherpas, more traditional for other eight-thousanders.


The main dangers are avalanches, falling seracs and stones, cracks on the approaches and the instantaneous melting of huge masses of snow. The weather on the mountain is usually bad, and incidents at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters, near the very top, leave very little hope for help and rescue.

The first attempt to conquer the mountain took place in 1902, but success was achieved only on July 31, 1954, when the Italians hoisted the flags of their homeland and Pakistan on the top of K2 (A. Compagnoni from Valfurno and L. Lacedelli from Cortina d’Ampezzo).

Where is Mount Chogori (K2)

located on the border of Pakistan and China in the Karakoram system. Interesting fact: scientists argued for a long time and could not choose for her mountain system- the fact is that there is almost no division between the Himalayas and the Karakoram. There was even a special conference, at which it was decided to divide the Himalayas and Karakoram.

I translated from English Steve Swanson’s article “Burnt by the Sun,” published last spring in the paper version of Alpinist magazine. It is dedicated to the tragic events of 1986 on K2, when 13 climbers died.
I also posted the translation on the website risk.ru on December 22, 2012.

Scorched by the sun

What is reasonable aspiration? There is a peak at which the thirst for satisfaction of ambition can go so far beyond the bounds of reason that it slides into an obsession; when fixation on the result drives a person beyond the point beyond which reasonable caution should turn him back - assuming that in a given situation survival becomes as important as achieving the ultimate goal. Tom Holzel and Audrey Salkeld, "The Mystery of Mallory and Irwin", 2000

In 1986, twenty-seven climbers summited K2, five using new routes. In the process, thirteen men and women died, and the total number of misfortunes on the mountain more than doubled. The events of Black Summer reminded me of the ancient Greek myth of Icarus. The man made wings from wax and feathers for his son and warned him not to fly close to the sun. Overwhelmed by the natural euphoria of flight, Icarus flew too high. The heat of the sun melted the wax, which led to the fall and death of Icarus. History contains memories of the great achievements of 1986, but much more - of the terrible losses among strong individuals, and these stories drown out all the joy and pride.

That summer, the Pakistani government issued permits to nine groups, and nearly eighty people hoped to reach the summit. Among them were many of the most experienced high-altitude climbers at that time. Their methods and ideals varied greatly.

The first deaths occurred as a result of the climbers simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. On June 21, the sun sunk a giant boulder above Negrotto Col, causing a massive collapse that buried John Smolich and Alan Pennington. After this, several members of the Italian and Basque expeditions switched from the Magic Line to the Abruzzo ridge.

This was the beginning of the accumulation of groups on the classic route, which steadily and dangerously increased over the next few weeks.


Routes on the south side of K2
A: Along the Western Ridge and Wall (Japan, 1981)
C: Magic Line (Poland-Slovakia, 1986)
D: Polish Line (1986)
E: SE buttress
F: Abruzzese Route (Italy, 1954)

Maurice and Liliane Barrard, Michel Parmentier and Wanda Rutkiewicz were already in the middle of climbing the Abruzzese semi-alpine route without supplemental oxygen.
The first on the route this year, they lacked the help of other groups in the form of new ropes, left supplies, and filled tracks. The higher they rose during their last throw, the slower they moved. Leaving most of their gear on the Shoulder, they struggled through the deep, powdery snow at the Bottleneck. At an altitude of 8300 m, all four of us, without sleeping bags, squeezed into a two-person tent. The next day the sky was so blue that Parmentier felt as if he were standing on a warm beach, looking out to sea (Pari-Match, September 1986). Rutkevich reached the top first and reported this to the others, who stopped several hundred meters below the top to cook soup.
While Rutkiewicz waited for them, she left a note in a plastic bag in the rocks: “Wanda Rutkiewicz, June 23, 1986, 10:15, First female ascent.” She also added: “Lillian Barrar.” During the 70s and 80s, women fought to gain recognition as high-altitude mountaineers. By 1986, Rutkiewicz had earned a reputation as one of the best Himalayan climbers and one of the most fiercely determined. Four years earlier, with a broken hip, she had walked with a crutch the 150km approach from the village of Dasso to Chogori base camp to lead the first all-female attempt at K2. And now, finally, the woman stood at the top of “Mountain Climbers.”


Pictured are Lillian Barrar (center) and Wanda Rutkiewicz (left)

An hour later, Liliane joined her, along with Maurice and Parmentier. On the descent, they decided to spend a second night at 8300 m - now without food or water. Rutkiewicz would later write: “In the rays of the sun I did not know that death was following us down” (Jim Curran, K2: Triumph and Tragedy, 1987). A group of Basque climbers passed their tent on the way down from the summit. Lilian said: “I hear the living,” Maurice replied: “I don’t give a damn about life” (Pari-Mach). As they continued their descent towards Camp IV in the morning, the Barrars' gap grew further and further.

Since there was little fuel left, Parmentier convinced Rutkiewicz to continue moving with the Basques to Camp II, while he remained to wait for Maurice and Liliane at Camp IV. Through the falling snow, Rutkiewicz caught a glimpse of the Barrars silhouetted in the clouds high above her. They seemed exhausted and descended slowly. A French climber from another expedition, Benoit Chamoux, turned back near Camp IV in view of an approaching storm. When Parmentier refused to leave his friends, Chamot left him his walkie-talkie. As the storm raged, Parmentier called Chamo at Base Camp: he realized that he would have to go down alone.

Chamot led Parmentier through the whiteout and strong storm winds from memory using radio communication. Every ten minutes Parmentier called Base Camp: “Benoit, are you here?” And Shamo answered: “Yes, Michel, I’m here.” Each time the radio went silent, Chamot feared that Parmentier might have fallen. Finally, Shamo announced to the gathering crowd: “He found urine marks in the snow.” Everyone was happy.

Parmentier returned to the route line close to the place from which the fixed ropes went down (Benoit Chamot, Le Vertige de I"lnfini, 1988). Together with Rutkevich, he reached the base camp two days later. The Barrard couple disappeared. Rutkevich wrote in her diary: “There are events that I experienced, but I still can’t fully accept them” (Bernadette McDonald, Freedom Climbers 2011) (The same book Freedom Climbers describes how Wanda fell behind the Basques and at some point lost her). suddenly she saw two black features that turned out to be ski poles. Next to them, Wanda decided that the poles had been left by the Basques - for her, a lot of fresh snow had fallen. they simply serve as a guide to the beginning of the railing, but there was no strength to climb back - they were only enough to save himself. Parmentier wandered at the top for a long time in search of the railing. And only constant radio communication with Benoit Chamot helped him to go down. , how events would have unfolded if she had left the sticks in place. This addition is included in the post to make it clear that even experienced climbers can make mistakes after being at altitude for a long time. - approx. ed.)
A month later, Lillian's body was found in an avalanche blowout at the base of the south side. In 1998, climbers discovered a corpse on a glacier wearing a shirt with Maurice's name embroidered on it.

For days, Shamo looked at the mountain above Base Camp, still hoping to see Barrar moving along the moraine: “I began to feel that the desire to climb was absurd... but if some people die for the mountain, it must be because it is incredibly important to them - to go higher and higher... Be that as it may, we go to the mountains in search of the seemingly irrational, but in fact - human.”

Benoit Chamot

On July 4, using established fixed ropes and camps along the Abruzzese route, Shamo intended to make a one-day ascent of K2. At 18:15 he started from 5300 m. At 22:30 he stopped at the Korean tent at 6700 m to cook himself something to eat. By 7 a.m. he was on the Shoulder. He tried to melt the snow, but his stomach would no longer accept the liquid. He left his gear and began to climb up the Bottleneck with only a few lollipops in his pocket. Almost every hour he leaned his head over an ice pick when he was overcome by bouts of vomiting. Finally, the warm tones of the distant fields beyond the glaciers were revealed to his gaze. It took him only twenty-three hours to reach the top (Le Vertige de l'Infini).

By that time, two Polish climbers Jerzy Kukuczka and Tadeusz Piotrowski had been attempting to climb the central ridge of the southern side of the mountain for almost a month. One by one, their teammates dropped out. On July 6, they set up a bivouac at 8200 m. In front of them rose a 100-meter steep wall, which was not visible from the base camp. It took them a whole day to hang one thirty-meter rope. Kukuchka recalled: “I gained height centimeter by centimeter... I fought for every step... The hardest section of climbing that I had to overcome in this Himalayan climb” (My Vertical World, 1992).

They returned to their previous bivouac, where they used a candle as fuel to heat two small cups of water. On July 8, they left everything except their climbing equipment, bivouac bags and cameras. Fog was gathering over the mountain, and they left their excess equipment where their route connected with Abruzzi's. Higher up in the snow they saw soup bags thrown by Barrar. At 18:25 the slope gave way to a horizontal surface. They stood at the top.


Jerzy Kukuczka

They planned to descend along the Abruzzi route. They reached their gear as it began to get dark. While changing the batteries for his headlamp, Kukuchka dropped it, and they were forced to descend to the bivouac at 8300 m. At dawn, they wandered, lost, in the whiteout, covering a simple 400-meter section until the next night. On July 10, on the third day, without food, water or shelter, they reached a steep ice slope. Kukuchka asked for a rope, but Piotrovsky left it at the bivouac. When they got down, Piotrovsky's crampons flew off. He fell on Kukuchka and then disappeared behind the bend of the slope.

Five and a half hours later, Kukuchka crawled into a vacant Korean tent at 7300 m on the Shoulder, where he found food, a burner, and slept for twenty hours. Earlier that summer, other climbers had criticized the Koreans for their heavy style, but if not for their throws, it is unlikely that Kukuchka would have survived. “My experience on that mountain was too tragic,” he recalled, “and the price paid for victory was too high” (American Alpine Journal 1987).

The Polish-Slovakian team and Italian singles Renato Casarotto were still working on the Magic Line. Since Messner's 1979 expedition, Casarotto has become one of the world's top soloists, and his difficult first ascents included Denali's twelve-mile cornice-crested ridge called the Ridge of No Return. But he never gave up the dream of the Magic Line. By mid-July it had reached 8200 m twice. “This is a wonderful route,” he explained to the Polish climbers. “If I reach the top, I will give up my solo climbs” (“K2: Triumph and Tragedy”). On his third attempt, he was met by strong winds at 8,300 m, filling his tent with snow and ice and penetrating his clothing. He felt that good weather was needed for the final mixed section. After lengthy conversations on the radio with his wife Goretta, who was waiting for him at the base camp, on July 16 he decided to stop the attempt completely.

Renato and Goretta Casarotto

That same evening, Kurt Dimberger became concerned because a small moving dot had disappeared from the avalanche icefall on the De Filippo Glacier. Casarotto fell into a deep closed crack, but he managed to get a walkie-talkie and contact his wife.
“Goretta, I’m dying in a crack not far from the base camp,” he told her. Goretta accompanied Casarotto on many of his adventures and quickly organized a rescue party. They pulled him out of the crack still alive. Despite the efforts of several expedition doctors, he died soon after. In accordance with Goretta's wishes, his body was returned to the crack.

With each death, the survivors tried to make sense of the accidents, to find a reason why they were going to K2, or why they were climbing in the first place. Some left, like Smolich and Pennington's associates. Others remained.

Polish climber Anna Czerwinska explained: “We began to get the impression that we were participants in some kind of mystical drama, and everything that happened was beyond the limits of ordinary statistics and chance” (“K2: Triumph and Tragedy”). Working in teams of three women and four men, she and her comrades secured railings up to 7,600m on the Magic Line. On July 29, Peter Bozhik, Przemyslaw Piasecki and Wojciech Wruz left the base camp and climbed the snow-covered bastion along rocky steps and steep ice. They spent the night in Camps 2 and 3. Using a shared bivouac, without sleeping bags or supplementary oxygen, they spent another night at 8000 m and the next at 8400.

On August 3, after pendulum traverse to get around the overhang, Pyasetsky realized that they would not be able to descend along the ascent path. At 6 pm they decided to descend from the summit of K2 along the Abruzzi route, where they could use the ropes and camps of other teams. But the Austrians and Koreans roped only certain sections of the traverse above the Bottleneck, not realizing, of course, that others could use their ropes blindly in the dark.

Around 11:30 p.m., Piasecki, the only one with a working headlamp, noticed a tear in the railing. He shouted to warn Bozhik who was behind him. Bozhik also shouted about this to Vruzh upstairs. When Pyasetsky and Bozhik from below again called out to Vruzh, the silence of the night was broken only by the sound of metal hitting stone. In a state of extreme fatigue, Vruzh apparently slipped off the end of the rappel.

Around 3:00, Piasecki and Bozsik came across a crowded Camp IV. Bong-wan Jang, Chang-sun Kim and Byeung-hon Jang (all from the Korean expedition) returned from the summit on the same day. Willi Bauer, Hans Wieser and Alfred Imitzer (from the Austrian expedition), Dimberger and Tallis (from the Italian expedition to the "Magic Line"), Alan Rose (from the British expedition to the northwest ridge) and Dobroslava ("Mruvka") Miodovic-Wolf (from the Polish expedition on the Magic Line) processed the Abruzzi route.

Even earlier, near the base camp, Dimberger noticed a teapot among the debris of the ice avalanche. It looked like it belonged to Austrian Camp IV. When the Austrians realized that a gigantic collapse had destroyed their upper camps, they decided on a complex and unrealistic plan - to reach the summit without replacing the lost supplies. On August 1, they were supposed to use the Korean high camp. The next day they would set up ropes for everyone, continue to the summit and descend into Camp III, clearing the tent for the three Koreans climbing up.

Dimberger realized the risk of this strategy and offered the Austrians a spare light tent. Wieser replied: “No... Bauer agreed on something with the Koreans over the radio.” This mistake was one of the links in the chain of events that led to the disaster.

On August 2, the Austrians hung the railings at the Bottleneck, expecting to be at the top that day. Completing this job took longer than expected and they returned back to 8400m. But since they wanted to try again, they insisted on staying at Camp IV again even though there was not enough tent space.

After an argument with members of other groups, Bauer and Wieser squeezed into a three-person tent containing three Koreans. Imitzer pushed into the two-person tent belonging to Rose and Mruvka. Dimberger and Tallis refused to let anyone into their tent: “This is our third expedition to this mountain... We must be fresh tomorrow.” The next morning the Koreans went to the summit. Unable to sleep due to overcrowding, Rose and Mruvka postponed the attempt for another day. Dimberger and Tallis stayed with them to wait.


Dimberger and Tallis

After fourteen expeditions to the Karakoram over the past thirty-two years, I have found that more than four days of clear and calm weather are rare. The lost day for everyone significantly increased the risk of being caught up in the storm, adding another link in the chain. Together with Pyasetsky, Bozhik and the Koreans who returned from the summit, there were twelve people in Camp IV. Rose and Mruvka took Piasecki and Bozsik into their tent, leaving Rose to sleep half under the awning.

On the morning of August 4th, Rose, Mruvka, Imitzer, Bauer, Wieser, Dimberger and Tallis set out to storm the summit. Wieser turned back soon after leaving the camp, but he refused to go down to the lower camp with Piasecki, Bozsik and the Koreans, remaining to wait for his team at Camp IV.

The day turned out to be warm. Much lower on the mountain, a large rockfall caused by the sun knocked down Sirdar Mohammed Ali and he died near Camp I. By 11 a.m., Diemberger noted, only the summit cone of K2 remained bathed in light above the gathering clouds. A southerly wind was blowing and a storm was approaching, which forced Alex and I (we are talking about the author of the article, Steve Swenson, and his partner Alex Lowe - translator's note) to abandon the climb on the northern slope. Mruvka, half asleep, crawled to 8500 m and turned back to Camp IV.

Alan Rose

The others followed Rose as he hit the steps all the way except for the last 100 meters before the top. When Dimberger and Tallis reached the summit on the last evening, the fog was thickening. On the way down they made contact. Tallis soon fell, tore off Dimberger, and they flew 100 meters. Safe and sound, but now outside the route and in the dark, they wrapped themselves in powder coats all night at 8400 m. In the morning they descended in whiteout, screaming, until Bauer's voice led them to the tents.

A furious storm began. Seven climbers were trapped in a snowstorm at Camp IV, already exhausted from such long stay on high. Every day their condition worsened. Diemberger and Tallis's tent collapsed from the gusts of wind that continued to bury them all. He moved to Rose and Mruvka's tent, and she moved to the Austrians' tent. Between the night of August 6th and the morning of the 8th, Tallis died in her sleep. Soon everyone ran out of food and fuel. Rose began to hallucinate. On August 10th there was a hint of sunshine. “Aussa, aussa,” Bauer shouted, trying to get the survivors to move as best they could. Before he died, Rose asked for water, which no one had. Despite the help of Mruvka and Bauer, Wieser and Imitzer were greatly weakened and died 100 meters below the tents.

Mruvka

Dimberger, Mruvka and Bauer rappelled alone in the gloom of snow and clouds.
By this time, the climbers below had already written them off. At dusk on August 11th, Bauer came to BC like something out of a horror movie. He reported that Dimberger and Mruvka were somewhere behind. A rescue team came out at night. A faint shadow appeared in the darkness, descending above the Advanced Base Base. The first thing Diemberger whispered was: “I lost Julie.”

Kurt Diemberger (top) and Willi Bauer (bottom)

Despite fatigue, Piasecki, together with Michael Messner, climbed up to about 7000 m in search of Mruvka. They found only an empty tent near what was believed to be her last location. In 1987, about 100 meters above, a Japanese expedition discovered her body, still standing upright, strapped to the railing and leaning against the wall.

Chogori is the world's most challenging mountain to climb, better known as K2 Peak. Last August, Kazakh climbers Maksut Zhumayev and Vasily Pivtsov, after five attempts over several years, finally conquered the summit. The expedition lasted more than two months. The team, which included representatives from Germany, Poland, Austria and Argentina, faced all the challenges of a dangerous climb and endured all sorts of bad weather conditions. Vox Populi presents Maksut Zhumaev’s diary, which tells how it happened.

(Total 49 photos)

1. Expedition "K2" started in Bishkek. Seven people were supposed to participate in the ascent to K2, but one climber from the States could not join us due to visa problems. As a result, our team consists of six people - Vasily Pivtsov, Tommy Henrich from Argentina, spouses Ralf Duymovets and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria, videographer Darek Zaluski from Poland and me, CSKA sergeant Maksut Zhumaev (in the photo Ralf is choosing melons, photo by Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner)

2. June 17. I woke up in the yurt at 6 am, fresh and cheerful! After breakfast, we regrouped the expeditionary cargo with only one goal - to hide the satellite terminal and Thuraya telephone, and most importantly - the sausage! They explained to us that Chinese customs have an acute intolerance to civilization products

4. June 19. City everyday life began with the purchase of food. “Food” is the most pressing topic on the expedition. We were warned that on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border, all food products would be requisitioned in favor of the “party cause.” But at our own peril and risk we transported 40 cans of horse meat stew

5. Our caravan started from the village of Ilik, here local residents, ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, rent camels. This service is very expensive, but they have a monopoly, since helicopter transportation for climbers is prohibited in China, and it is not possible to find a hundred porters

6. Caravan departure day for everyone local residents- a great holiday. After all, they earn money for the whole year in advance from one expedition. 40 camels and 10 drivers were allocated for our expedition. Each camel takes 80-100 kg. When all the goods have been distributed, they begin to load them

7. June 24. In the morning it was cloudy and windy. In the mountainous region through which we walked to the base camp, there are many nameless peaks that have never been touched by humans. In the clouds at the top I spotted a stone figure that looked like a praying angel

8. June 25. In the desert area mountain gorge even the stones reflected the light; the thermometer showed +35 degrees. In addition to the Shizgam River, ahead of the caravan was a crossing across mountain river Chogori. The crossing was the most dangerous; the water washed over the camels up to their bellies. And the stones that rushed under the water, driven by the current, could knock them off their feet. But everything worked out, and we safely reached the base camp

9. Here, in an oasis among the desert gorges in the bushes, lives a herd of kulans. We met these beautiful animals back in 2007, when we made one of our attempts to climb K2. We set up a base camp on the edge of the oasis, and on the other side lived kulans

10. July 1st. From the first day of arrival at base camp, all the team’s actions were aimed at the upcoming ascent. Setting up camp is one thing, you still need to get to the mountain. The specifics of climbing K2 are such that you need to overcome 20 kilometers along moraines and glaciers. We divide this path into three sections: from the base camp to the advanced camp and then to camp 1. Each exit to the mountain is an event; I regularly had to send information to my homeland. Only two of our team had experience in climbing the chosen route. In 2007, the expedition completed the ascent at an altitude of 8450 meters. Above the 4th high altitude camp the route presented a big problem. And we had to solve this “deadly” problem (photo by V. Pivtsov)

11. Our main home is ABC (Advanced Base Camp). Grass and flowers still grow here, but walk 100 meters and you are on a lifeless glacier. In the camp, everyone has their own tent, one dining room, which is also a wardroom, where the whole team gathers and spends free time. Next to the large tent under an awning is the kitchen where our chef works culinary miracles. Snow in the advanced camp usually fell at night, and every morning we cleared the snow from the tents. IN good weather We worked on the route, and when it was bad, we sat out at the base. But everything has its own charm. When the weather is bad at the top - there is an avalanche danger and fear for life, when it is snowing below - nostalgia for winter in the midst of summer

12. Ralph and Gerlinda constantly reported on the progress of the expedition

13. The situation in the camp is spartan; during the first week we broke all three thermoses. Kettle, mugs, spoons - all this is not important, the main thing is the top

14. Darek Zaluski is our high-altitude videographer. Originally from Warsaw (Poland). We are connected by a good, long friendship. Darek is rightfully one of the most experienced high-altitude videographers in the world. Shooting video in the mountains is a very difficult and challenging job. Showing a snow hurricane, faces frozen in the bitter cold, conveying all the beauty and depth of the mountains is not something everyone can do

15. July 5. First day of good weather. At 8:40 am we left the camp. Ralph and Gerlinda were looking for a new path. But one way or another all the paths lead to one main moraine corridor, which leads to the base of Chogori

16. It was always bright and spacious in our tent for Ralph and Gerlinda, who came to drink tea with lemon and discuss plans for tomorrow. The first trek took a lot of energy, so after tea everyone quickly fell asleep (photo by Darek Zaluski)

17. 06 July. The exit to the mountain is scheduled for 5:00 am. Ralf Dujmovich is Gerlinda's husband, the first representative of Germany to complete the program of 14 eight-thousanders. He is a successful businessman, the head of the largest travel company Amical and just a good climber

18. Hanging rope railings on an avalanche-prone snow slope. Vasily is working ahead, Ralph is on the belay. Looking ahead, I will say that it was on this slope that an avalanche descended on us on one of the assault days. But we survived, holding on to the rope railings that we had hung earlier. According to tactics, we constantly divided the team: the first three climbers work the route, hang the railings, the second three climbers at this time make cargo walks, bringing equipment, ropes, snow safety stakes, ice screws, and rock pitons under the route. Any work is difficult and vital

19. Tent life is simple and straightforward. One large saucepan for four. The main task is to restore water balance. A climber loses up to 3 liters of fluid per day, mainly through breathing. Water is needed to prevent the blood from thickening, otherwise the likelihood of frostbite increases (photo by V. Pivtsov)

20. 07 July. Rise at 3 am. According to the plan, take as many ropes as possible and hang them up to the 2nd camp. Today there are six of us going out: Ralph and Gerlinda are the first to leave the camp, then Vasily and I, the last are Darek and Tommy

21. Vasily and I went forward to trample. We change each other every 100-200 steps. Gerlinda asks to come forward, we politely ask her to save her strength and let us work. We all return together to the tents of the 1st camp after 6 pm. A hard day of work that brought satisfaction from the work done. We managed to hang the ropes up to a height of 6300 meters. That evening, after dinner, Ralph reported that tomorrow there was a forecast of snow and increased wind. We collectively decide that tomorrow everyone will go down to Depo-camp, take the ropes and bring them to the 1st camp for further work. After which we can go down to rest in ABC with a clear conscience. Calm and peace reigned in our tent. Tired, we fall into deep sleep

22. July 12. At 6 a.m. everyone gathered for breakfast, where they lively discussed the weather forecast, which promised continued clearing. After breakfast, everyone received a legal ration of fried potatoes. As Ralph said: “Potatoes are not only a storehouse of energy, but also a source of vitamin C and minerals.” You can't argue with him about this

23. July 13. At three o'clock in the morning a signal went off on my phone - it was time to get up. We take turns getting ready, then light the burner and heat water in a saucepan. For breakfast, only 3-in-1 coffee and one chocolate bar for two (photo by V. Pivtsov)

24. We were lucky; an avalanche paved our way to the rocky couloir. Following her trail, we reached the beginning of the railing and further along the ropes we began to slowly climb. Gerlinda works in front, goes powerfully on two jackals (the jackal is specially designed for passing cool ice), pulling out the rope from under the snow and ice. Everyone else walks along the railing step by step, measuring upward meters and centimeters with their zhumars (zhumar is a device for moving up a rope railing). I go second to last, only Tommy follows me, he goes without a helmet. Something is falling from above in a constant stream, sometimes snow, sometimes pieces of ice. Often flies into the helmet, and Tommy tries to dodge troubles flying from above. Cursing and shouting can be heard more and more often behind me. “Not more ice!” Tommy shouts, but no one can hear him, everyone is already high ahead and starting to climb the snowy ridge

25. July 15. In the morning it started to snow, we were faced with a dilemma: to go to the 2nd camp for an overnight stay or to go down to the advanced base camp for rest. We decided to wait for the Darek-Tommy deuce and decide together what to do next. For our four, spending the night in the 2nd camp would not have hurt, but general fatigue took over. Darek and Tommy approached, throwing off their heavy backpacks, they showed with all their appearance that they would not reach the 2nd camp today. The decision came naturally, everyone is going down (photo by Darek Z.)

26. July 20. We are preparing ourselves for difficult work, fighting deep snow on a snowy ridge. The weather is favorable to us, cloudy below. Sometimes the wind lifts the clouds, and then we walk in a fog. By lunchtime we reached the rocks, and from there it’s a stone’s throw to the camp (photo by Darek Z.)

27. July 21. Tommy and Darek are also preparing to leave. Despite the bad weather, we pack up and take our tent with us. We go upstairs at 9 am

28. From the top of the ridge, the wind drives small avalanches. Vasily pulls out the railing from under the snow and we slowly go upstairs. In the afternoon we finally reached the 2nd camp. Here on a wide snow ridge there is snow above the knee, but there are only 100 meters left to the camp site

29. By the time Ralph and Gerlinda arrived, I managed to prepare a pot of green tea with honey (photo by Darek Z.)

30. (photo by V. Pivtsov)

32. July 23. Gerlinda was 100 meters away from us, when suddenly an avalanche hit nearby. Based on the direction the avalanche was moving, it was clear that we would not be caught, but the wind was in our direction. And 10 seconds later we were covered by a cloud of snow dust. It wasn’t scary, but we didn’t want to think that we could be within the radius of an avalanche cone. We got up, shook off the snow and began to wait for our friends (photo by Darek Z.)

33. July 25. According to the forecast, the storm will dominate the mountain for a week. We decided to go on vacation to the lower “Chinese” base camp. There is no chance of going up the mountain in the next few days. According to our data, the wind speed increased to 100 km/h. There is nothing to do on the mountain in this weather. All that remains is to go down to the base camp to rest (photo by V. Pivtsov)

34. 04 August. The sun illuminated the tent at 7 o'clock in the morning. That day we worked all day, and by five we reached the 3rd camp; we could have done it earlier, but the deep snow slowed down our pace of movement. At sunset they held a meeting and at the same time celebrated Darek's birthday. We congratulated the birthday boy as best we could, treated him to meat, and Vasily allocated a few milligrams of alcohol, which he diluted with water

35. 05 August. 6 am, yesterday was Darek's birthday, and today my son turned 3 years old. Wish to my son: “It just so happened that when you were born, I was kneading the snow of Lenin Peak in the Pamirs. And on every birthday, your dad is in the cold, far from you. But with all the warmth of my love for you, my son Isatai, I wish you to grow up healthy and to our joy!” (photo by Pivtsov V.)

36. The amount of work done today gave a good chance of marking the route to the 4th camp the next day. Ropes and rock equipment had been left at the end of the railing. A good start has been made; all that remains is to approve the general plan of action for tomorrow. We decided to go in the same heavy style: we take all three tents with us, as well as food, things and gas, there is a possibility that a window of good weather will appear and, perhaps, we will have a chance to make an attempt to climb to the top (photo by Darek Z. )

37. 06 August. Tommy decided to go down to the base and wait for us there. This fact made some adjustments; Vasily and I take Darek to our tent. This did not affect the weight of the backpacks, but you will have to make room in the tent seriously. The wind had not covered the path since yesterday, so it was not difficult to walk. In front of the rock ridge we found a tangle of old railing ropes. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon we reached the site of the lower 4th camp, at an altitude of approximately 7900 meters (photo by Darek Z.)

38. 07 August. When we woke up, it was snowing. During snowfall there is no point in going out, down jackets will get wet. We called meteorologist Charlie, who reassured us that the snow would stop falling as night fell. Soon we began to run out of food and gas

39. 08 August. The weather is excellent, thick clouds under our feet. Only in the sky bright sun, snow lies in a thick layer on the rocks. We calculated that about 40-50 cm fell. Above our tents, the old railings were all covered with snow, so it was difficult to guess the direction of movement. Avalanches are dangerous everywhere, even on the dome of a tent. At 9 am, the three of us go out for processing, Vasily works first, Gerlinda and I bring ropes to the belay. The most dangerous was the traverse along the snowy slope. As soon as Vasily began to cut the slope, a snow board came out from under him, but he held on, sharply driving the jackal into the slope. Then I walked more carefully (photo by Darek Z.)

42. Another problem - during the transition from camp 1 to camp 2, melt water flowed along the couloir, the railing rope constantly froze and froze into the ice (photo by Ralph D.)

46. ​​August 22. Last night we made the difficult decision to use this day to rest and work on the route. We spent a very cold night at 8000 meters (photo by Pivtsov V.)

47. August 23 - there will be no more good weather and we have the last chance to climb to the top. I don’t know where the strength came from, but it took 12 hours of superhuman effort, but we did it. At 7 pm our entire assault group reached the top! (photo by Pivtsov V.)

48. In the morning, Vasily Pivtsov and I set out from our overnight stay at an altitude of 8300 m towards the 4th camp. At 10:30 we successfully reached it. Everyone is feeling normal, we plan to go as low as possible today

49. For Maksut Zhumaev, Vasily Pivtsov and Gerlinda Kalterbrunner, this is the 14th eight-thousander! We did it! Now Kazakhstan is in 1st place in the world ranking, out of 28 people on the planet who have climbed all 14 x 8000+, three are from Kazakhstan! And most importantly, all three - Maksut, Vasily and Denis made all the ascents without the use of oxygen equipment! (photo by Darek Z.)

Killer Mountain. The number of victims of peak K-2 (otherwise known as Chogori) has increased to 11 people

The number of athletes who died while conquering the second highest peak on the planet on August 1, 2008 - Himalayan mountain K-2 (aka Chogori), reached 11 people today, August 4th. The cause of death for the climbers was an ice avalanche.

According to recent data from the authorities of Pakistan, in the north of which K-2 is located, among the dead are two Nepalese, three South Koreans, a Serb, two Pakistanis, a Norwegian, an Irishman and a Frenchman. Rescuers found three climbers alive and managed to remove them from the slope, but they all suffered severe frostbite.

The exact number of climbers missing is still unknown. According to available data, there are at least 2-3 of them. Judging by some information sources, three Norwegian citizens are among the missing.

For reference

K-2 (Chogori) is the second highest mountain peak after Everest (Chomolungma). Its height is 8611 meters above sea level. K-2 is located in Kashmir, in northern Pakistan (border with China) and is part of mountain range Karakoram, located west of the Himalayas.

Other names for K-2: Chogori, Godwin-Osten, Dapsang.

History of Chogori (K-2)

Chogori was discovered by a European expedition in the mid-19th century. The mountain was marked as "K-2" that is, the second peak of the Karakoram. The peaks labeled K1, K3, K4 and K5 were later renamed and are now called Masherbrum, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I respectively. K2 had its own name at that time, but it was unknown to Europeans. Historically, the technical name K-2 remained the most famous in Europe. In Russia, until the 1950s, the mountain was called Godwin-Osten on maps, and then Chogori.

The first attempt to climb was made in 1902 by Aleister Crowley and Oscar Eckerstein, but it was unsuccessful. The first to reach the top of K-2 was the Italian expedition of 1954 led by Ardito Desio. On July 31, Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli were the first to climb to the top of K-2.

Climbing K-2 is technically much more difficult than climbing Mt. highest peak planet Chomolungma (Everest). Until December 15, 2005, only 249 people had visited the summit of Chogori, and 60 died while attempting to climb. At the same time, about one and a half thousand people climbed Everest. The first woman to climb Chogori was Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz (1986).

On August 21, 2007, the Russian team managed to overcome the previously insurmountable western wall of Chogori. But most difficult route world - Russian.

One of the most dangerous mountains in the world is located on the very border of Pakistan and China. Chogori, or K-2, is the second highest peak on the planet, second only to Chomolungma. It was first discovered by Europeans in 1856, and they also gave it the dry designation K-2, that is, the second peak of the Karakorum. But with much more right, K-2 should be called Death Mountain and here’s why.

The first attempt to climb Chogori was in 1902 by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley. They say that it was after this that Crowley became interested in mysticism - after such experiences, you involuntarily begin to believe in the world of spirits and demons. Like this one, all subsequent expeditions ended in complete failure: the mountain took people forever. For more than fifty years, K-2 stood unconquered, until this situation was corrected by the Italian expedition of Ardito Desio, who climbed to the very top on July 31, 1954.

First American attempt

But before the success of the Italians, the Americans tried their hand at the slopes of Chogori. In 1938, Charles Houston's expedition conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the route and was forced to turn back when there was very little left to the top. Houston had the courage to admit defeat - further ascent in such difficult conditions threatened the inevitable death of all members of the expedition.

Wiessner Expedition

And in 1939, Fritz Wiessner made another attempt to conquer Death Mountain. His team did not reach the top by only 200 meters. Unlike Houston, Wiessner made the decision to move on to his death. He still had to turn around when, within 30 minutes, Dudley Wolfe, Pasang Kikuli, Pasang Kitar and Pinzo disappeared from the slope without a trace.

Second American attempt

Charles Houston returned to K2 to lead the 1953 American expedition. And it ended in failure again: heavy snowfall trapped the entire team for 10 days at an altitude of 7800 meters. One of the expedition members, Art Gilkey, suffered critical frostbite. In a desperate attempt to escape, the expedition almost in full force fell into the abyss and was saved literally by a miracle - Pete Schoening, an experienced climber, managed to prevent the tragedy. Everyone survived except Art Gilkey, who died in the avalanche.

Dangerous place

Among all the mountains in the world, K-2 stands in a special place. It is only 239 meters lower than Everest, but climbers consider K-2 much, much more dangerous. How much? Well, in 2010, Everest was climbed exactly 5,104 times. Only 302 climbed K-2. According to statistics, out of five climbers, one dies, but for some reason this does not stop other desperate daredevils.

 

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