History of the conquest of K2 (Chogori)

(partially used article by Monika Rogozinska (Poland) and other sources)

The mountain got its name by coincidence. In 1856, T.G. Montgomery of the British Ordnance Survey in India first saw a series of peaks in the Karakoram Mountains when he was making his measurements there, and transcribed them in the order in which he discovered them. He did not suspect then that K2 is the second highest peak on Earth. The peak did not have a local name among the population of Baltistan.The Chinese name for the mountain is Chogori, which means.

1861

The first European to reach the base of the mountain from the South in 1861, from the Baltoro Glacier, was Captain Henry Havesham Godwin Austin, a British photographer. One of the glaciers along which he reached the slope of K2 bears his name. It was then that the height of the mountain was determined to be 8611 m.

1892
The British, under the leadership of officer Martin Conway, conducted a research expedition to the Baltoro glacier, and reached a point now called Concordia - from there it was an 8-hour walk to the base camp under K2

1902

Englishman Oscar Eckenstein, inventor of the modern ice ax and crampons, was the first to attempt to reach the summit of K2 in 1902.The expedition reached 6525 m and became famous due to the fact that the great 20th century mystic Aleister Crowley participated in it. (Although, there are some facts that the Italian Roberto Lerco climbed the Abruzzo ridge during exploration of the Baltoro glacier, which took place in 1890)

1909

The mountain became truly famous when it attracted the attention of Luigi Amadeus of Sabata, an aristocrat, Prince of Abruzzo (Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta). Mountaineering was his passion. In 1894, he climbed the Matterhorn with the most famous climber of the time, the Englishman Albert Frederick Mummery, who a year later attempted to reach the 8,000-meter summit of Nanga Parbat, from which he did not return.
By the time the Prince of Abruzzo reached the foot of K2 in 1909, he had behind him a successful expedition to Sant Elias, then considered the highest point in North America, as well as an attempt to reach the North Pole. Among others, he invited guides and porters from Mont Blanc to this expedition. Since then, the K2 massif will bear names associated with this expedition - the Sella pass, the Savoia Glacier, and, of course, the most famous name from that time - the Abruzzi Ridge. 45 years later, first climbers from Italy, compatriots of the Prince of Abruzzo, reached the top, climbing precisely along this rib.

In 1902, having reached a height of 6250 m, the expedition lost hope of being able to conquer the peak. The prince then said: “If someone manages to do this, it will not be climbers, but aviators.” The mountain probably would not have excited the imagination so much if not for the photographs that Vittorio Sell took at that time. Scientists and art historians hunted in advance for his photographs of the mountain, which were exhibited in galleries and museums. Sell ​​immortalized the beauty of the Karakoram in sepia photographs on 18x24 cm glass plates. It is difficult to imagine how they survived transportation during the months of return travel on foot through the mountains. Many consider them to be the most beautiful mountain photographs ever taken.

1939

K2 began to reap its sad harvest. How bizarre is the story of conquering this peak! The Americans had a good chance of becoming first climbers. The expedition led by Fritz Hermann Weisner climbed the Abruzzi ridge. Together with Sherpa Pasang Dawa, Weisner reached 8380 m, where Pasang, based on his signs, realized that it was impossible to go higher, and then he forced Weisner to stop climbing. He wrapped the rope attached to the hook around himself and blocked his partner's movement. They had only 230 m left to the top. The next day, however, it was so warm and sunny that Weisner sunbathed naked in the sun at the upper camp. He persuaded Pasang to continue climbing. The ice stopped them. They did not have cats, which flew into the abyss along with Pasang's backpack. They started to descend.What a pity! The summit was nearby, the weather was ringing, and they walked without oxygen

Dudley F. Wolfie was waiting for them in the camp at 7710 m. He had been without hot food or drink for two days, since then his partners had left. They all went down very tired, tied with rope. Suddenly Wolfie slipped and fell down, taking the others with him. Weisner stopped his fall on a shelf on the edge of the abyss. They reached the next, lower camp at dusk, but it turned out that there was no bivouac equipment there. They survived the night by covering themselves with a ragged tent and stuffing their feet into a single sleeping bag. Wolfie, who was very ill, decided to stay and wait for help. At that time, little was known about the effects of altitude on the body. They did not use bottled oxygen.
Weisner and Pasang descended to base camp, completely exhausted, and saw that everyone there was ready to go down. Someone told them that the climbers had died in an avalanche. There were two attempts to climb to Wolfie. Eventually, four Sherpas came to him.

They found him plunged into deep apathy. The Sherpas went down to the previous camp to spend the night there. The next day a snowstorm began. Another day later, three of them went up to Wolfie, only to take his written statement that he was voluntarily staying in Camp 7. Weisner made another unsuccessful attempt to save him. No one has seen those three Sherpas or Wolfie since then, but in the summer of 2002 something happened...

All responsibility for the death of the expedition members was placed on Weisner. In the hospital where he was treated for frostbite, he had no opportunity to defend himself against false accusations. The particular viciousness of the attacks was aggravated by the fact that Weisner was of German origin. The expulsion of Fritz Weisner from membership in the American Alpine Club was greeted with enthusiasm by the vast majority. It took more than 25 years to correct this mistake. Weisner became an honorary member of the club in 1966.

1953

Charles S. Houston, a physician and mountaineer, led an American expedition along the Abruzzi Ridge. Seven Americans and one Englishman did not take bottled oxygen, believing that the summit could be reached anyway. The ascent went smoothly until the entire team was trapped for many days in the camp at an altitude of 7700 due to a strong storm and sliding snow masses. Houston first noticed a venous blood clot in Gilka's leg. Helpless to do anything to help, they watched the beginning of his agony - soon followed by venous blockage of the lung. They did not want to go down, leaving the dying Jilki alone, so on the morning of August 10, wrapping him in sleeping bags, they began transporting him down. Late in the evening one of them slipped and took the others with him. Three bundles, entangled in the safety ropes, flew down. Peter Schoening managed to arrest their fall from his belay station. Most of the climbers were injured and severely maimed. We secured Djilki with a rope on the slope and moved aside to carve out a platform in the ice for the tent. When the bivouac was ready, they returned back to the patient. At the place where it was left, there was a trace from a huge avalanche. Jilka's death saved their lives. Before leaving base camp, they erected a memorial stone in memory of the deceased, a symbolic monument on which subsequent expeditions would nail plaques with the names of those who remained on the slopes of K2 forever.

1954

The Italians at the foot of K2 were ready to try. Participants included scientists and eight professional alpine guides. Candidates for participation in the expedition went through a very strict selection: a scrupulous medical examination and training camps in alpine winter camps. The leader of the expedition, 57-year-old Ardito Desio, a professor of geology, set certain conditions for the participants and obliged them to follow a diet, since “the ill health of one or more participants caused by overeating or excessive drinking could jeopardize the entire effort.” Each participant received an illustrated "K2 guide" prepared by the expedition leader, so that they could all now prepare in accordance with the theory. Apart from Desio, who participated in the 1929 expedition to K2 organized by Prince Spoleto, cousin of Ludwig Amadeus of Sabata, no one had ever been to the Himalayas. In Italy, many doubted the significance of the expedition.

Already at the very beginning of the expedition, Mario Puchos, an alpine guide, died in Camp 2 from pulmonary edema. His body was lowered down and buried in a rocky crack next to Djilka’s grave. The battle with the Abruzzo ridge lasted 8 weeks. Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli set up a tent at the last high altitude camp at 8050 m. Walter Bonatti and Hunza Mahdim climbed up to them to bring 19 kg oxygen cylinders necessary for the assault on the summit. They were unable to climb to the upper camp before dark, and were forced to spend the night without a tent or sleeping bags. The night was stormy. The climbers did not touch the oxygen they had with them, knowing that this could nullify the chances of storming the summit. Hunza paid for the night with severe frostbite and amputation of fingers and toes. At dawn they left the oxygen apparatus where they had spent the night and began their descent.

The next day, Compagnoni and Lacedelli found oxygen several dozen meters below their camp. They took it and began to rise. They soon reached the place where Weisner had sunbathed 15 years ago. At 8400 they ran out of oxygen. They did not dare to leave the cylinders they no longer needed, and, loaded with heavy backpacks, reached the top. It was July 31 at 6 pm.

They spent half an hour at the top and left oxygen tanks there. The descent was dramatic. The drink, prepared with the addition of cognac, relaxed them. Exhausted, they descended at night, poisoned by alcohol and lack of oxygen. They got terribly lucky when they fell from the top edge of a crack that crossed a steep slope - they flew over the crack and landed on its other edge. They lost their ice axes. Soon Compagnoni fell down along with the snow cornice and lingered on the snow a dozen meters below. Lacedelli, who was also descending without an ice axe, also fell on the ice.

They went down to the camp where their friends were waiting for them. The next day, after leaving the camp, Compagnoni again flew 200 m on an ice slope. He again landed successfully in a snowdrift. They reached the base camp. The following message was sent: "Victory July 31, we are all together at base camp. Professor Desio." The names of the summit conquerors were not announced. Desio wanted to announce them upon their return to Italy.

After returning home, Compagnoni lost almost all his frostbitten fingers. Lacedelli also lost a few. The expedition ended in the courtroom. Compagnoni filed a lawsuit against the Italian Alpine Club, which was the organizer of the expedition, hoping to somehow compensate for the damage resulting from the amputation of fingers and toes. Walter Bonatti, shocked by the official report of the expedition, which did not even mention his contribution to the success of the expedition, demanded an apology from the organizer. He received it 40 years later. The following year, he tried to find money for a new expedition to K2 to make a solo ascent using equipment abandoned on the slope. But the money could not be found.

1975

The Poles gathered at K2 in 1975, under the leadership of Janusz Kurczaba. This was the ninth expedition in the history of conquering the mountain, and the first without the support of high-altitude porters. 19 climbers took part in it.

The goal was to try the route along the northeast ridge, the same one used by Eckenstein's expedition in 1902. But dramatic events occurred. Wojtek Jacket's fall with a cornice in a difficult place on the rib resulted in a leg injury. Andrzej Czok fell into an ice crack. Kazimir Glazek became snow blind. It took three days to escort him to base camp. At an altitude of 7670 m, Glazek felt atypical symptoms of mountain sickness - paralysis of the arms and legs, along with speech and memory impairment. In other participants, the doctor diagnosed venous thrombosis - a disease that over time began to be called typical of the K2 climate. The camps were covered with a 2-meter layer of snow and partially destroyed. Despite everything, Eugeniusz Chrobak and Wojciech Wroc reached 8400 m. They had only 200 m left when the oxygen ran out. At that time it was not yet clear whether a person could climb at such a height without oxygen. Chrobak and Wrots decided to turn back. It is possible that this decision saved their lives. They descended, accompanied by a storm and a snowstorm. Already at night they reached the tents, where their friends were waiting for them. K2 became Wojtek Wroc's obsession. He returned there in 1982 as a member of Janusz Kurczaba's next expedition. On the new route along the north-eastern ridge, where the border of Pakistan and China lies, they had only 400 m to reach the top. On the third attempt, he reached the top along a difficult route that others could not complete. He paid for it with his life.

1977
Second ascent of K2. The Japanese, under the leadership of Ichiro Yoshizawa, climbed the Abruzzi ridge. It was a gigantic expedition - 52 expedition members were helped along the route by 1,500 high-altitude porters.

1978

Successful expeditions often took into account the experience of previous unsuccessful ones. The 1975 Polish route was completed by the Americans two years later. This was already the fifth American expedition, organized 40 years after the first. It is again directed by James Whittaker. The climbers simply bypassed the complex rock belt, climbing the Abruzzo ridge using the simpler route of first climbers. James Wickwire started using oxygen from 8100 m. 200 meters above Lewis Reinhard also wanted to use oxygen, but was unable to. However, he decided to continue climbing. On September 6, at 5-20 pm, both of them climbed to the top. Reinhard - the first climber to reach the summit of K2 without oxygen - began to descend faster, fearing oxygen deficiency. Wickwire lingered at the top, changing the film in the movie camera. He began his descent when it was already getting dark. He didn't have a headlamp. He spent the night 150 m below the peak, wrapped in a tent. The next day, the other two reached the summit, also without supplemental oxygen. All four descended to base camp. Wickwire suffered several frostbites, pneumonia and venous thrombosis. He was evacuated by a US military helicopter.

1981.
The Japanese route along the South-West ridge, then a long traverse along the South-West face - to the top of the Magic line route. First climbed by Nazir Sabir (Pakistan) and Eiho Ohtani (Japan) - they spent the night in a snow pit, warmed only by a candle, at 8470 m. Three years earlier, Chris Bonington's expedition aborted an attempt to climb this route after an avalanche killed Nick Estcourt at 6700 m. . Everest veteran Doug Scott was also caught in the avalanche, but was saved by a heavy backpack that served as an anchor and stopped his fall.

1982
The first ascent from the North, from China. Head of expedition - Isao Shinkai. 7 participants reached the summit, all without supplemental oxygen.

1986

Reinhold Messner, trying in vain to reach the top of K2 along the Southwest Ridge (which he called the Magic Line) and also along the southern slope, said: “For the first time I encounter a mountain that cannot be climbed from either side.” In the end, he climbed to the top, without oxygen, in semi-alpine style, following the route of first climbers - the Abruzzese ridge. After returning home, he admitted that "Everest was a walk compared to K2." The fight continued. The French expedition led by Bernard Millet tried to pass the Magic Line, it was the most expensive expedition in history, with a huge amount of equipment. 1,400 porters hauled 25 tons of equipment to base camp. The expedition was accompanied by a film crew of 10 people, photographers and journalists. A paraglider was raised to a height of 7500 m, and Jean-Marc Bovin descended on it to the base. After a long struggle, the French reached 8450 m. There were 160 left to the top.

The Poles completed the magical line in the tragic year of 1986. Our climbers bravely paved another new route on K2. Anna Czerwinska, a witness to those events, summed them up in her book "The Horror of K2": "I believe that we achieved a lot sportingly in 1986 on K2, we were terribly successful. But as members of the climbing community, we suffered great losses ".
That year there were 5 expeditions at the foot of K2. 27 climbers reached the summit, only four used oxygen. Seven died on the descent. In total, 13 people died.

Tragedies alternated with triumphs. After a heroic struggle, Wojciech Wroc, Premyslaw Piasecki and Peter Bozik from the Czech Republic passed the Magic Line. They descended at night along the Abruzzi ridge. In the darkness, Wrots suddenly fell off the end of the railing, which was not properly secured, and flew away.

(the route was repeated only in 2004 by a Basque team. Jordi Corominas climbed to the top)

Josef Rakonkay from the Czech Republic became the first to climb K2 twice. Three years ago he climbed from the Chinese side, as part of an Italian expedition along the Northern Ridge. He also climbed the Abruzzi ridge with the Italians. Frenchman Benoit Chamot reached the summit alone along the same route in a record time of 23 hours.

A significant event was the passage of a new route along the Southern slope by Tadeusz Piotrowski and Jerzy Kukuczka. They descended the Abruzzi ridge in fog, in very windy and snowy weather, without food or water for three days, spending the night without tents or sleeping bags. Looking for the right route, they climbed down the ropes. Eventually they saw the tents of the Korean camp. They were descending a steep ice slope. “I advised Tadek to go a little to the left,” Kukuczka wrote in “The Ascendant.” “Soon I noticed that he had lost his cat. I asked him to be careful, but he made a sudden movement, and his second cat flew off. I heard him scream "Yurek!" ". Kukuchka came to base camp. The search for Piotrovsky was unsuccessful.

In June 1986, Wanda Rutkevich led the first women's expedition to K2 on crutches - a broken leg received in the Caucasus did not stop her from this venture. The expedition began with tragedy. Galina Kruger-Syrokomska, deputy leader of the expedition, suddenly lost consciousness at Camp 2 (6700), and died soon after. Resuscitation failed. Doctors believe that the most likely cause of death was apoplexy. Wanda Rutkiewicz has reached the top. French couple Liliane and Maurice Barrat also climbed to the top. (Liliane and Maurice Barrard), husband and wife, disappeared without a trace during a storm after spending the night at 8300 m. Most likely, they were swept away by an avalanche or a collapsing serac. The fourth member of the group, Frenchman Michel Parmentier, was found safely after he got lost in dense fog during the descent.

At the beginning of August, five people reached the summit along the Abruzzi ridge. Austrians and - for the first time - two Englishmen - Julie Tallis and Alan Rose. Julie climbed to the summit with Kurt Demberger, a walking legend of Himalayan climbing, the first to conquer two virgin 8000-meters. In private life they were a very well-known couple in mountaineering circles. Rose went up with his “auntie” - Dobroslava Miodovich-Wolf. They were following a route for which they did not have a permit. They believed that this was their only chance to ascend. The Englishman reached the top. On the way down, he met Demberger and Tallis, and they told him that they had seen their aunt sleeping in the snow and asked him to help her down. Alan persuaded Dobroslava to turn. She was only 150 m from the top.

At Camp 4 at 7900, five men and two women were in the death zone. They were delayed there due to a sharp deterioration in the weather. Julie Tallis was the first to die - she lasted three days. Alan Rose was in a state of agony when, after another three days, those remaining decided to leave the camp at noon. The blind Alfred Imitzer and Hans Weiser did not go further, despite help. Completely exhausted, they remained on the slope.

Willi Bauer, Dobroslava and Demberger continued their descent. At 7300 it turned out that Camp 3 had been blown away by the wind. At night, Bauer, and soon Demberger, reached the tent of Camp 2. “Auntie,” however, did not appear. After the return of the two Austrians, Przemek Piasecki and Peter Bozsik went up. However, they did not meet the Polish girl. The body of Dobroslava Miodovich-Wolf was found by a Japanese expedition the following year, below Camp 3, blown away by the wind. Auntie was fastened to the railing.

This terrible account was continued by the death of two Americans in an avalanche and the sirdar of the Korean expedition, on whom a piece of rock fell.

Another famous couple is about to conquer K2. Renato Casarotto was one of the most famous climbers, he climbed solo routes on mountains of different continents. Joretta usually waited for him at the base camp under the mountain, preparing delicious pies, creating as much home comfort as possible, boundlessly admiring her hero. Renato climbed the Magic Line to 8200 m until he realized that he could not continue the ascent. After talking with Joretta on the radiotelephone, he was going to quickly go downstairs. He was almost down when he fell into an ice crack. He managed to tell Joretta by phone what had happened and ask for help. He died after being pulled out of the crack.

1990
The route along the North-West Face was completed by the Japanese under the leadership of Tomaji Ueki. The line of their ascent went out onto the previously traveled route along the North-Western ridge at an altitude of 8000 m,

1991
French people Pierre Beghin and Christophe Profit began the ascent along the West Ridge, crossed diagonally across the Northwest Face, and reached the summit via the Northwest Ridge (the upper section of the 1982 Japanese route). They climbed alpine style.

Trying to reach the summit of K2 in winter led by Andrzej Zawada, from the Pakistani side, along the Abruzzi ridge. The Polish-Canadian-British expedition reached 7300 m. Its member Krzysztof Wielicki later, in 2003, led the second winter attempt to climb K2 - from China, along the North-West Ridge. Denis Urubko and Marcin Kaczkan reached an altitude of 7750 m.

Eight women climbed to the top of K2, but only the last three are alive. These climbers are: Wanda Rutkiewicz (June 23, 1986), Lilian Bara (June 23, 1986), Julie Tallis (August 4, 1986), Chantal Madeuy (August 3, 1992), Alison Hargraves (August 13, 1995), Edurne Pasaban (July 26, 2004 ), Nivez Meroy (July 26, 2006) and Yuka Komazu (August 1, 2006)

The highest overnight stay on the K2 slope was by Daniel Mazur and Jonathan Pratt in 1993 (8550 m) during the second ascent of the route along the South-West Ridge.

Since the French ascent in 1991, not a single new route has been climbed on K2. Until 2007, there was not a single route on the Western Wall (although attempts were made).

In August 2007, a team of Russian climbers climbed K2 along a new route - along the center of the Western Face. This difficult ascent was accomplished without the use of additional oxygen. 11 people reached the summit.

Translated and supplemented by Elena Laletina, 2003 and 2007.

On the border of Pakistan and China is one of the most dangerous peaks in the world for climbers. It is called Chogori or K2.

Although K2 is slightly lower than Everest (its height is 8611 meters), the mountain is rightfully considered the most difficult to climb. The name “K2” was given to the mountain by Europeans who discovered it in 1856. The abbreviation K2 stands for the second peak in the Karakoram mountain system.

From the 19th to the 20th century, only 284 people managed to reach the summit of K2 (for comparison, more than 3,000 people climbed Everest during the same period). All ascents to K2 are carried out in the summer - in winter the mountain is completely inaccessible to climbers.

According to statistics, every fifth daredevil who climbs K2 will die. The mountain has already claimed the lives of 66 climbers.

Only the Himalayan peak Annapurna is considered more dangerous than K2. It takes the life of every third climber.

In 2012, an expedition of Russians made the world's first attempt to climb K2 in winter. The adventure ended unsuccessfully and sadly - expedition member Vitaly Gorelik died from frostbite and pneumonia.

In July 2013, two New Zealanders decided to climb K2 - Marty Schmidt and his son Denali. Both died due to an avalanche that covered their camp.

News of the death of an international group of climbers while descending Pakistan's K2 mountain on Friday, August 1, and subsequent reports of search and rescue efforts earlier this week, became one of the main topics of the world's leading media. Meanwhile, most of the information about the expedition still remains contradictory. For example, the exact number of climbers who climbed K2, the most dangerous mountain in the world, is unknown. According to the BBC, 25 people were on the route at the time of the avalanche. AFP reports that the group included at least 17 climbers, of whom 11 died. Rescuers managed to save three athletes, the rest are considered missing. There have never been so many casualties in one climb in the entire history of conquering the “killer mountain.”

The first to reach the top of K2 in 1954 were Italian climbers Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni (the very first “assault” took place in 1902). From 1954 to 2007, 284 expeditions conquered the top of Chogori, a total of 66 people died. On Everest, which was summited 3,681 times during the same period, 210 climbers died. According to unofficial statistics, every fourth climber who tried to conquer K2 died. For female athletes, the mountain is generally considered inaccessible: a total of 5 climbers managed to climb to its summit, and 3 died during the descent. It is worth noting that the descent is the riskiest part of any climb; about 80 percent of the world's climbers die during it.

On August 1, the tragedy also occurred on the descent - after conquering the summit. An international group of climbers was caught in an avalanche while at an altitude of more than 8 thousand meters. Pakistan's tourism ministry said 11 members of the group were killed: 3 South Koreans, 2 Nepalese, 2 Pakistanis, a Serb, an Irishman, a Frenchman and a Norwegian. The rest have been declared missing. There is practically no chance of finding them alive. "When a person goes missing on K2, it means he is dead," Sher Khan, vice-president of the Pakistan Mountaineering Organization and one of the country's most experienced climbers, told Reutres.

Over the weekend, rescuers managed to rescue two Dutchmen: Wilco Van Rooijen and Cas van de Gevel. Italian Marco Confortola, despite his frostbitten feet, managed to descend to the rescue base camp at an altitude of 7,300 meters on Monday. The survivors are in hospitals, their lives are not in danger.

According to Dutch climber Wilco van Rooyen, the athletes made a number of mistakes on Friday, when they had to make the final push to the summit. The climbers chose the wrong climbing route, and in the end the group reached the peak only at 8 pm. Accordingly, at dusk the descent was very difficult.

As the climbers began to descend, part of the glacier broke off, taking with it several athletes and safety equipment. Some climbers were cut off from the descent. Royen says that people panicked.

“The instinct of self-preservation kicked in for many, I began to command the athletes to help each other, but few responded,” the Dutchman told the media. According to him, people tried to quickly go down the mountain and many ended up getting lost.

Eight-thousander K2 is the second highest mountain peak after Everest. Height - 8611 meters above sea level. Discovered by the British in 1856. Chogori (K2's alternate name means "Big Mountain" in the Tibetan Balti language) is located in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, in the disputed northern territories bordering China. Chogori is part of the Karakoram mountain range, located to the west of the Himalayas.

The Dutch climber also said that people were ready to fight for oxygen cylinders, and there was no talk of any mutual assistance. Later, Ruin met two Koreans who were trying to pull out a comrade who had fallen on a slope with the help of a safety rope and offered them his help, which, according to him, they refused. “Everyone was trying to survive, and I was trying to survive,” said Wilco van Rooyen.

Italian Marco Confortola has said little so far. "I was in hell. Happy to have survived. The descent devastated me," Confortola told the press.

However, both the Dutchman and the Italian had already noted that human casualties could have been avoided if the expedition had been better equipped. In particular, the athletes complained about the quality of the safety ropes. Undoubtedly, the human factor also failed: according to survivors, the group chose not the most optimal route, which led to a colossal loss of time.

It is worth recalling that climbing the “killer mountain” is not only an extreme activity, but also expensive. To obtain permission to climb, a group of seven people in Pakistan must pay a fee of 12 thousand US dollars. This does not include the costs of equipment, food and guides.

Let us recall that in the summer of 2004, two Russians Sergei Sokolov and Alexander Gubaev, while climbing Mount Chogori, were hungry (!). Such conclusions were reached by an international commission that investigated their deaths in 2005. Russian climbers were limited in finances and could not afford to purchase quality equipment and food.

Meanwhile, on the Internet portal K2climb.net there are not only heated discussions about the reasons for the death of the last expedition, but also volunteers are being signed up for the next one. It is noteworthy that the site dedicated to the “killer mountain” is literally bursting with sponsorship advertising. Why do people risk their lives? An impossible question.

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, the Himalayan mountain K-2 (otherwise known as Chogori), on August 1, 2008, reached 11 people today, August 4. The cause of death of 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 the Karakoram mountain range, 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 the highest peak of the 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 the most difficult route in the world is Russian.

Second peak of the world

In the central part of the Karakoram alone there are about 70 peaks above 7000 m. In the immediate vicinity of Chogori (8611 m) there are Broad Peak (8051 m), Gasherbrum I (or Hidden Peak, 8068 m), Gasherbrum II (8034 m) and other giants. “If there is a place in the world worthy of being called the hall of mountain kings, then it is here,” the famous English actor, traveler and TV presenter Michael Palin said about Karakoram.
The name of the K2 peak has nothing to do with its height, as those uninitiated in the history of the issue, but logically thinking people might think. The British lieutenant of the Royal Engineers, Thomas George Montgomery, who participated in the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1856, had his own and very straightforward logic: he simply numbered the vertices he could see from left to right. Essentially it turned out like this: Masherbrum K1, Chogori - K2, Broad Peak KZ, etc. The letter “K”, of course, meant . None of the peaks that Montgomery “counted” had technical abbreviation names that took root. Except K2. This is how the whole world still calls her. In fact, the mountain had and still has its own local name. Chogori is just one of them. And also Dapsang, Lamba Pahar (“high mountain” in Urdu), Kogir, Kechu or Ketu. For a long time, the mountain was called Godwin-Austen, in honor of another English topographer, who, five years after Montgomery, calculated the exact height of the peak - 8611 m. On Soviet maps until the 1950s, the peak was signed with his name. And then it became just Chogori.

Mount Chogori (K2) is located in Pakistan-controlled northern Kashmir, bordering China. The historical region of Kashmir has been the subject of territorial disputes between Pakistan, China and India for more than half a century.
This fact does not at all interfere with the development of K2. Every year, hundreds of people climb the Baltoro Glacier for the wonderful scenery of the Central Karakoram and climb its famous peaks.

Mountain killer

Climbers consider K2 one of the most difficult peaks. It is called the killer mountain, the wild mountain. It is much more difficult to climb on it than on.

K2 is a single massif with steep rock-ice slopes and thick snow cover. The first serious attempt to reach the summit was made in 1902 by a group of six European climbers led by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley. Questionable physical fitness, interpersonal conflicts and bad weather prevented them from achieving their desired goal. They had no idea what difficulties they would face, and yet they were able to climb to 6525 m. Swiss and Italian expeditions undertaken over the next 35 years were not successful, but they contributed to understanding the complex nature of the wild peak. In 1938, Eckenstein's record was broken by the Americans under the leadership of Charles Houston. The climbers reached a height of almost 8000 m, and a year later Fritz Wiessner reached 8380 m, but his expedition ended tragically - many of his comrades died in the snows of K2. The third American expedition in 1953 retreated with losses and frostbite as a result of a multi-day snowstorm.
The mountain was conquered in 1954 by the Italians, who spent almost a year developing a plan to storm it. Two members of the expedition, Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni, reached the summit. They covered the last 200 m without any oxygen reserves. Their names were kept secret until they returned to Italy, as expedition organizer Ardito Desio believed it was a victory for the team.
In 1979, the famous Italian mountaineer Messner Reinhold climbed K2 for the first time without oxygen tanks.

general information

The second highest peak in the world.
It is located on the border between the northern territories of Kashmir - a disputed area in the north-west of the Hindustan Peninsula - and China.

Glaciers: Baltoro (62 km, the third longest in the world), Biafo, Hispur.

Nearest international airport: in the city (Pakistan).

Numbers

Height: 8611 m.
Height of neighboring vertices: Masherbrum (7821 m), Broad Peak (8051 m), Gasherbrum I, or Hidden Peak (8068 m), Gasherbrum II (8034 m).

Climate and weather

Moderately continental.

Characteristic features are intense solar radiation and large daily temperature ranges.

The average annual temperature at an altitude of 5000 m is -4.5ºС.

Curious facts

■ Conquering K2 is an expensive pleasure. The Pakistani Ministry of Culture and Sports charges $900 for permission to climb to the top.
■ The first woman to summit K2 was in 1986. It was Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz.
■ The first Russians on Pogori were climbers from Togliatti, who climbed the summit in 1996. In 2007, the Russian team was the first to conquer the mountain from the western face - along the most difficult route.
■ Chogori (K2) ranks second among the eight-thousanders after Annapurna in terms of the danger of climbing. The mortality rate is 25%.