Crowning the highest peaks in the world has become a frivolity. What was long ago a feat intended for specialists, can now be achieved by paying, with the risk that it entails. Images of Everest with endless queues are already part of the collective imagination and K2 (8,611m), in Pakistan, has not been spared and is becoming a dangerous business.
The video of a Nepalese mountaineer has gone viral in recent hours due to the traffic jam to climb to the top. It is one of the most complex points of the ascent and Everest Todaya portal that covers information about the Himalayas, comments that in that place «you spend several hours under a giant ice cliff in an exposed position at more than 8,200 m, 1/3 of normal oxygen levels and knowing that many people they slipped and fell from here.”
The last official figure indicated that just 377 people had crowned K2, but business has changed everything. In a single day, 145 peaks have been counted, which is almost a 40% of the ascents made since there are records. They are also more people than in the 42 years that passed since the first ascent, from 1954 to 1996.
The reality of K2 was altered when a group of Nepalese saw a business opportunity. Nirmal Purja and Mingma G are two of the climbers responsible for the massive ascents that have been taking place in recent days. Purja even shows off his chest on social networks, assuring that he has placed 33 of your clients to the top in one day, through his expedition company, Elite Exped. Right now, local companies, Nepalese agencies and Western guides work on K2, which represents a radical change towards the business model on Everest.
#K2 Mission complete. Huge congratulations to our team – you smashed it! I am so proud of each and every one of our team and adventurers on #K2 this season. That’s a 100% success rate on 8,000ers. Contact @eliteexped to join us next year. pic.twitter.com/kgG8DnzxbY
— Nirmal Purja MBE (@nimsdai) July 24, 2022
The danger of ascending K2
Experts comment that technically K2 is more difficult than Everest. 20% of those who have tried to climb it have passed away, and it is that the avalanches and the danger of the ice moving, added to the number of tourists who make the ascent, make this peak one of the most difficult to crown in the world. The pyramidal shape of its summit means that the final attack on the summit is climbing, through a very steep terrain of ice and rock, unlike Everest, which is reached on foot.
This Tuesday the discovery of the bodies of two mountaineers who disappeared on the 19th and 22nd of this month has transpired. Both suffered falls that cost them their lives and added their names to the long list of deaths that this dangerous eight thousand has claimed.
