National Geographic - UK (2022-02)

Advanced Base Cam17,060 ft p, Dec. 21

5,200 m

Camp I

First reached

Dec. 2120,013 ft

6,100 m

Mingma G.’s first Camp II

Dec. 2822,178 ft

6,760 m

Camp III

Jan. 14, 202123,622 ft

7,200 m

Camp IV

Jan. 1524,934 ft

7,600 m

Mingma G.’s second Camp II

Dec. 29, 202022,638 ft

6,900 m

Nepali team reaches summit

Jan. 16, 2021

Nims’s first Camp II

(wiped out by storm)

Dec. 2921,654 ft

6,600 m

Abruzzi Spur

route

Nims’s second Camp II

Jan. 13, 202123,130 ft

7,050 m

Forced

detour

Polish international

expedition high point

(hidden) via North

Ridge route, 7,650 m 2003

Spain, 7,200 m 2019

Poland expedition

Russia, 7,200 m (^2012) high point, 7,300 m 1988
Poland (Urubko solo attempt),7,600 m 2018
Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan,7,634 m 2019
8 Polish team attempts
route, turning around
e of dangerous rockfall
House’s Chimney
S
i
c
k
l
e
Bottleneck
Pulpit
Traverse
S
O
U
T
H
W
E
S
T
R
I
D
G
E
NORT
HE
AS
T
RI
DG
E
SO
UT
H-
SO
UT
H
EA
ST
SP
UR
DOM
E
28 ,251 fK2t
8,6 11 m
e peak
mmit juts into the jet

. In winter, windchill
ratures can reach minus
nd winds can gust up to
red miles an hour. Snow
ly is scoured off the face
top of the mountain.

Danger from above

Climbers on the Abruzzi Spur

must contend with extremely

steep inclines, as well as falling

rocks and ice, which are responsi-

ble for many serious injuries and

deaths on the mountain.

Succeeding as a team

Previous winter attempts, includ-

ing Denis Urubko’s 2018 solo

summit push, failed. Having 10

climbers to haul supplies and take

turns leading the way allowed the

Nepali team to summit as a group.

A forced detour

The Nepali team stayed on the

standard Abruzzi Spur route until

they reached an impassable cre-

vasse. They had to backtrack,

turning the climb from Camp III

to Camp IV—usually three hours—

into an eight-hour trek.

SOREN WALLJASPER, NGM STAFF

MOUNTAIN TERRAIN RENDERING: GERMAN AEROSPACE CENTER (DLR)/DFD-WIS

PHOTOS: MARK FISHER

SCTHE DISTAALE VARIENCE FROMS IN THIS BASE CAM PERSPECTIVEP TO ADVA. NCED BASE CAMP IS 2.7 MILES.

SOURCES: MINGMA GYALJE SHERPA,AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL, 2021 ;

KRZYSZTOF WIELICKI; BERNADETTE MCDONALD; JAN KIELKOWSKI,

K2 AND NORTHERN BALTORO MUSTAGH;STEVEN SWENSON