The last frontier has fallen. K2 (8,611 meters), the only one of the 14 eight thousand that remained virgin in winter, has been conquered today by a group of ten Nepalese climbers.
The expeditions present in the mountain, before the window of good weather that appeared at the weekend, decided to join forces forming a A rope of ten Nepalese climbers who left the C3 at one in the morning with temperatures of -40º degrees. They were the Nirmal Purja (the Himalayan record man), Gelje Sherpa, Mingma David Sherpa, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (Mingma G), Sona Sherpa, Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, Pem Chhiri Sherpa, Dawa Temba Sherpa, Kili Pemba Sherpa and Dawa Tenjing Sherpa. Of them, Mingma G had announced that he would go without oxygen, something that they will have to corroborate on his return.
The ‘madness’ of the eight thousand in winter was started by the tough Poles, who have in their curriculum nine first winters and a tenth shared with the Italian Simone Moro. Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy conquered Everest on February 17, 1980, and almost 20 years later the Nepalese have come full circle.
Mingma G, Mingma David and Mingma Tenzj managed to mount Camp 4 at 7,800 meters, which was already a record on the second highest peak on earth. And from there they regrouped. Ten meters from the summit and after overcoming the exposed Bottleneck, they waited to crown it together. The problem is that they achieved it at 5:00 p.m. local time, so a hard descent awaits them at night.
In the K2 Base Camp, 70 climbers from four expeditions had concentrated this winter. In the most numerous of them, that of the guide company Seven Summit Treks, the Spanish figure as one of its leaders Sergi Mingote. Another is that of the controversial Himalayan sprinter, the Nepalese Nirmal Purja, who managed to conquer 14 eight thousand in just six months and six days.
THE FIRST WINTERS IN OCHOMILES
Everest 1980. Krzysztof Wielicki y L. Cichy (Polonia)
Manaslu 1984. Maciej Berbeka y R. Gajewski (Polonia)
Dhaulagiri 1985. Jerzy Kukuczka y Andrzej Czok (Polonia)
Cho Oyu 1985. Maciej Berbeka, Maciej Pawlikowski, Zygmunt Heinrich y Jery Kukuczka (Polonia)
Kanchenjunga 1986. Jerzy Kukuczka y Krzysztof Wielicki (Polonia)
Annapurna 1987. Jerzy Kukuczka y Artur Hajzer (Polonia)
Lhotse 1988. Krzysztof Wielicki (Polonia)
Shisha Pangma 2005. Piotr Morawski (Polonia) y Simone Moro (Italy)
Makalu 2009. Simone Moro (Italy) and Denis Urubko (Russia)
Gasherbrum II 2011. S. Moro (Italy), Denis Urubko (Russia) and Cory Richards (USA)
Gasherbrum I 2012. Adam Bielecki y J. Golab (Polonia)
Broad Peak 2013. Maciej Berbeka, Adam Bielecki, Artur Malek, T. Kowalski (Polonia)
Nanga Parbat 2016. Alex Txikón (Spain), S. Moro (Italy) and A. Sadpara (Pakistan)
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