National Geographic - UK (2022-02)

expedition

one of the

season. Th

disastrous

mits poste

any clients

expedition

climbers fr

and the Un

O

first major

full day of

to reach Ca

attempt on

a shortage

Mingma

matizing a

another Ne

special for

Nirmal “Ni

met before

introductio

hands once

not necessa

That was

of a record

climb all 1 4

The media

from relativ

In truth,

bit of rivalr

ers in their

in one of th

But they h

was reserve

and funny

his social m

first on K2

Neverthe

down and

Even thoug

the mounta

tized, they

two teams c

the camp ju

covered tha

across the Himalaya. Within weeks of return-

ing from K2, Mingma G.’s entire year of guided

climbs evaporated, leaving him with no income

and a small business to support. He tried to talk

a few friends into another attempt on K2, but

nobody wanted to spend the $10,000 for a permit

just to reach Base Camp, plus tens of thousands

more to mount a no-frills effort.

Mingma G. considered dropping the idea, but

something gnawed at him. Tenzing Norgay, a

Sherpa, was one of the first two people to stand on

top of Everest, and though he was a national hero

with his photo proudly displayed in countless

Nepali homes, he had shared the achievement

with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand. Nepali

climbers had been part of other groundbreaking

climbs, but none had ever claimed a truly historic

first ascent all on his or her own.

“When I went through Wikipedia, there was

no Nepalese flag on the winter 8,000-meter list,”

Mingma G. says. “I realized if we lose K2, we’re

going to lose all the 8,000-meter peaks.”

He knew he’d have to spend the money, even

if it meant mortgaging the piece of land he’d

bought in Kathmandu, which represented most

of his savings. He was able to recruit two broth-

ers, Kilu Pemba and Dawa Tenjin Sherpa, both

older than he, with wives, teenage children, and

decades of high-altitude experience.

But their families had reservations. “It was

very difficult for me to convince the wives of Kilu

Pemba and Dawa Tenjin,” recalls Mingma G.,

who is unmarried. “They said, ‘If our husbands

die, then we’re going to come stay in your home

and you need to feed us.’ That made me a little

crazy ... and very worried.”

There was another problem. After years of

back-to-back expeditions and the demands of

running his own business, Mingma G. faced a

startling realization for a Sherpa: He was out of

shape. As he waited in Kathmandu for the pan-

demic to subside, a family member began coaxing

him out for hikes and bike rides. “I lost many kilos

and started feeling strong again,” he says.

Mingma G. wasn’t the only Sherpa with K2 in

his sights. A trio of brothers—Mingma, Tashi

Lakpa, and Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the principal

owners of Seven Summits Treks—realized that

Pakistan was one of the few mountaineering des-

tinations still open in the high mountains of Asia.

By charging fees below those of Western out-

fitters, Seven Summits Treks had established

itself as one of the most successful Sherpa-owned

New Delhi

Islamabad

Kathmandu

Askole

N E P

A L

I N D I A

H I M A L A

Y A

Mt. Everest29,032 ft

8,849 m

Cho Oyu

26,864 ft8,188 m

Lhotse27,940 ft

8,516 m

Makalu

27,838 ft8,485 m

Kanchenjunga28,169 ft

8,586 m

Manaslu

26,781 ft8,163 m

Annapurna I26,545 ft

8,091 m

Nanga Parbat26,657 ft

8,125 m

Dhaulagiri I26,795 ft

8,167 m

Xixabangma

26,335 ft8,027 m

Broad Peak26,414 ft

8,051 m

Gasherbrum II26,358 ft

8,034 m

Gasherbrum I26,509 ft

8,080 m

28,251 ftK2

8,611 m

Mt. Everest was first

summited in 1953.

Mt. Everest was first

summited in the

winter in 1980 by

a Polish team.

Failed winter attempts on K2

1964 2005 2011

1956

(^19572013)

1958

(^19501987)

1953 2016

1984

1985

1960 1985

1956

1954

1955

1956

1955

1954

2009

1988

1986

1953 1980

2012

29,000 ft

28,500 ft

28,000 ft

27,500 ft

27,000 ft

26,500 ft

8,200 m

8,400 m

8,600 m

8,800 m

9,000 m

Death Zone 8,000 m

Su

m

m

it

Year of ascent

el

ev

at

io

n

Makalu

Lhotse

Kanchenjunga

Mt. Everest

Xixabangma

Gasherbrum II

Broad Peak

Annapurna I Gasherbrum I

Nanga Parbat

Cho Oyu

Manaslu

Dhaulagiri I

First winter ascent

claimed by Polish team

First winter ascent claimed

by non-Polish team

Poland 1988

Polish international

2003

Russia

2012

Poland

2018

Spain

2019

Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan

2019

Nepal, 2021

Nepali team completes

last winter summit

K2

ASIA

MAREAAP

Reign of the Poles

In 1980 Krzysztof Wielicki and a team of Poles

summited the first “eight-thousander” in winter—

Everest. Wielicki later described his approach: “One

does not combat a mountain; one struggles against

adversities ... snow, hurricane winds, and exhaustion.”

Northern exposure

Situated in the Karakoram Range, K2

is the northernmost eight-thousander

and bears the brunt of storms sweeping

down from Siberia. Its higher latitude

means less barometric pressure and

less oxygen, making a climb more

difficult and dangerous.

THE CHALLENGE OF WINTER

After climbers summited all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks, they turned

to the next challenge: ascending them in winter, when winds and tempera-

tures are at their worst and favorable weather windows are less predictable.

Beginning in the 1980s, Polish climbers pioneered this pursuit, claiming 10

8,000-meter winter firsts. Before 2021, six expeditions had attempted K2 in

winter. The most successful barely got within half a mile of the top.

In 2016, after 31 attempts,

Nanga Parbat became the 13th

of the eight-thousanders to

be summited in winter.

SOREN WALLJASPER, NGM STAFF. TERRAIN: ERIC KNIGHT

SOURCES: AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB LIBRARY; BERNADETTE MCDONALD; NASA