K 2

The K 2 will probably remain for another year the only eight-thousander that has not been climbed in winter so far. The Polish expedition to the second highest mountain in the world, originally planned for next winter, will take place only in 2017/2018, reports “Taternik”, the journal of the Polish Mountaineering Association PZA. The time to prepare the expedition logistically had run short. After all, the financing by two state-owned companies is in place now, says “Taternik”. In early September, the designated expedition leader Krzysztof Wielicki had mentioned in an interview with Polish radio that there was still a gap of 700,000 Zloty (160,000 Euro) in the expedition budget and that time was running short to close it.

Winter legend Wielicki

Krzysztof Wielicki

At the end of January, Wielicki had announced in an interview with the Spanish climber’s online portal desnivel.com he wanted to lead a Polish winter expedition to the Pakistani side of the 8,611-meter-high K 2. The 66-year-old belongs to the great generation of Polish winter climbers. In 1980, Wielicki succeeded along with his compatriot Leszek Cichy the first winter ascent of Mount Everest. He added two more first winter climbs at eight-thousanders: in 1986 along with Jerzy Kukuczka on Kangchenjunga and 1988 solo on Lhotse.

So far all attempts to climb K 2 in winter have failed – most recently in winter 2011/2012, when “Chogori” (as the Pakistani Balti call the mountain) was a too hard nut to crack for a Russian expedition. In winter 2003 Wielicki had led a Polish winter expedition which had reached an altitude of 7,650 meters on the Chinese north side of K 2.