[dt_gap height=”10″ /]
Polish group aims to make history by winter scaling of world’s second highest peak
[dt_gap height=”10″ /]
Poland’s leading team of climbers for the very first time in winter time aims to scale the world´s second highest peak K2.
K2 Pakistan is considered to be one of the most deadly mountains on Earth in winter. K2 has not been accomplished by any other backpacker in the winter season.
Polish climbers have written a “beautiful chapter” of exploring peaks of more than 8,000 metres (26,247 feet), and scaling K2 in winter would “the last chapter of this book”.
K2 which is spread around the Karakorum Mountains, located along Pak-China border is one of the world’s deadliest peaks for high winds, steep and icy slopes – and high fatality rates for climbers.
Before this, the K2 has taken around 70 lives while climbing, many of them at the Bottleneck, where a wrong step can send a climber hurtling off the South Face, where bodies are unlikely to be recovered.
The Polish team comprises 13 mountaineers led by Krzysztof Wielicki, 67, who in 2003 headed a winter expedition of K2, which was unable to clear the 8,000-meter threshold.
Team member of Polish climbers team Adam Bielecki, 34, told media that the chance to make history is a “strong motivation” for the Polish group.
Another team member Wielicki told that his team would begin their ascent on Jan. 8 or 9 and, if successful, expects to return to base camp by mid-March. He said the group expects to be away from home for around three months.
“If you ask me what´s the hardest part of the expedition or what I fear the most, it´s actually the separation from my family,” he said.
Pakistan is a hot destination for climbers. It rivals Nepal for the number of peaks over 7,000 meters (22,966 feet) and in all, it has five of the world´s 14 summits higher than 8,000 meters.
[dt_gap height=”10″ /]
[dt_gap height=”10″ /]