The “King of the Eight-Thousanders”

K2 remains the only eight-thousander still unclimbed in winter. Krzysztof Wielicki declared the Polish winter expedition on the second highest mountain on earth over. “The priority of the expedition is the safety of the participants,” wrote the expedition leader on Facebook. Adam Bielecki and Janusz Golab found during their exploration climb that all ropes up to Camp 1 on the Abruzzi route were blocked. It had to be assumed that the Camps 1, 2 and 3 were destroyed, said Wielicki. In the last week, there had been 80 centimeters of fresh snow. This had increased the avalanche danger, especially in the upper part of the mountain. In addition, only around 11 March a good weather window was expected, but probably it was too short for a summit push, explained Wielicki.

A lot of disquiet

Adam Bielecki after being hit by a stone

The expedition, which brought together the best Polish high altitude climbers, was not running smoothly. First, a part of the team was involved in the rescue operation for Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat. Then, within a few days, two climbers were injured by falling rocks on the Basque route. Bielecki broke his nose but was able to continue the expedition. Rafal Fronia broke his forearm and had to leave early. The team switched to the Abruzzi route. The solo ascent of Denis Urubko, who had not consulted his plan with expedition leader Wielicki, caused further disquiet. The 44-year-old reached an altitude of 7,600 meters, before storm and deep snow stopped him. After returning to the base camp Urubko left the expedition.

Ascent via the Abruzzi route on K 2

“The weather is not the best,” Krzysztof Wielicki, leader of the Polish K2 winter expedition, writes on Facebook. “Full of clouds and wind.” Denis Urubko ascended via the Abruzzi Spur to an altitude of 6,500 meters to check the condition of the route. Some old ropes are to be replaced, says Wielicki. The Polish climbers  had abandoned “for reasons of safety” their original plan to climb the Basque route (also known as the Cesen route). Previously Adam Bielecki and Rafal Fronia had been injured by rockfall. While Bielecki is able to continue, Fronia had to cancel the expedition because of a broken forearm.

Txikon and Co. waiting in EBC

Alex Txikon in the Lhotse flank at the end of January

On Mount Everest, the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara””and their Sherpa team are waiting for an opportunity for a summit attempt. “it seems that the weather does not work in our favor,” writes Alex. The climbers are well acclimatized. At the end of January, Txikon and Ali had scaled the 7,161-meter-high Pumori. A few days later, Alex and Co. had climbed on Everest up to an altitude of 7,850 meters, then the weather had turned.

First winter ascent of Gora Pobeda reported

Gora Pobeda in eastern Siberia

Meanwhile, Italian Simone Moro and his South Tyrolean team partner Tamara Lunger announced the first winter ascent of the 3,003-meter-high Gora Pobeda (also called Pik Pobeda) in the icy eastern part of Siberia. “”It snowed all day long, but there was good visibility,” the two climbers informed on Facebook.” It was extremely cold! How cold we do not know yet, we’ll check and tell you.” Gora Pobeda is located only about 140 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. Local reindeer herdsmen had accompanied Moro and Lunger from the last inhabited settlement to the base camp.

Rafal Fronia

For the Polish climber Rafal Fronia, the winter expedition on K2 is over. “Today, at 2pm local time, while approaching to Camp 1 (5,900m), a smoldering falling stone hit Rafał Fronia in the forearm causing a fracture,” expedition leader Krzysztof Wielicki informed from the base camp on Facebook. “After descending to the base and medical supply, he expects to be evacuated by a helicopter to the hospital in Skardu.” Fronia is to return home. In spring 2017, the Polish climber had scaled the eight-thousander Lhotse in Nepal without bottled oxygen.

Cesen route (E), Abruzzi route (F)

Only on Wednesday, Adam Bielecki was hit by a stone after his return from the rescue operation on Nanga Parbat, also just below Camp 1. He had suffered a broken nose and had to be sewn with several stitches. Bielecki wants to rest for a few days and then ascend again.

Update 10 February: After the two injuries by rockfall, the Polish K2 winter expedition abandons the Cesen route “for reasons of safety” – and announces that they are looking for another ascent route. I guess they will choose the normal route via the Abruzzi Spur.

Alex Txikon in Everest high camp (in the background on the right Pumori)

Alex Txikon is pleased with the progress made so far on his winter expedition on Mount Everest. On Sunday, the Spaniard and five Sherpas ascended from the base camp on the previously prepared route through the Khumbu Icefall, slept in Camp 1 at 6,050 meters and reached Camp 2 on Monday. “I am very happy, I did not think for a moment that we were going to reach Camp 2 at 6,500 meters in just one day and with a small team of only six people,” says the 36-year-old.

Foot off the accelerator

Alex (l.) and his comrades

“I think I have to take my foot off the accelerator and dose the speed. After all, this is not a 100-meter run but a long marathon. Six very hard days are behind us and we are very proud of them.” Txikon and the Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” want to scale Everest without bottled oxygen. Together with the Italian Simone Moro, they had made the prestigious first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in February 2016.

Waiting in K2 base camp

Wind vane on K 2

The jet stream is currently raging on Pakistan’s eight-thousander. For K2, wind speeds of up to 125 kilometers per hour were expected today on the summit at 8,611 meters, on the highest point of Nanga Parbat at 8,125 meters of up to 110 km/h. The storm is to calm down not before next weekend. That means for the winter expeditions on both eight-thousanders: Waiting in the base camp. On Sunday some climbers of the Polish team had ascended on the second highest mountain on earth up to 5,700 meters on the Cesen route. For today’s Tuesday it was actually planned to pitch up Camp 1 at 5,900 meters. However, there was no move shown on the GPS tracker of the expedition. K2 is the last remaining eight-thousander that has never been climbed in winter.

Nanga Parbat: Material depot at 6,700 meters

Elisabeth Revol (l.) and Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat

From Nanga Parbat, the Pakistani expedition operator “Alpine Adventure” informed that the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol had returned to base camp because of the strong wind and extreme cold. Previously, they had deposited equipment at 6,700 meters. They would rise again as soon as the conditions permit, it said. That should be probably towards the end of the week.

K 2, seen from Base Camp

The “Ice Warriors”, as the Polish winter climbers in the Himalayas and the Karakoram have been called, want to do it again. The last remaining first winter ascent of an eight-thousander is to become a Polish under all circumstances. The state sponsors the prestigious project on K2, with an altitude of 8,611 meters the second highest mountain in the world: the Polish Ministry of Sports and Tourism bears the largest chunk of costs with a cash injection of one million zlotys (almost 240,000 euros). “Because we got the money, we had to follow the idea that it is ​a national expedition,” expedition leader Krzysztof Wielicki told desnivel.com (see the video below). All climbers of the K2 winter team are Poles – even Denis Urubko, an avid collector of passports: the native Kazakh received the Russian citizenship in 2013 and in addition the Polish one in 2015.

Experts on winter and K2

Denis Urubko

Expedition leader Wielicki is a pioneer of winter climbing on the highest mountains in the world. In 1980, he scaled with his Polish compatriot Leszek Cichy Mount Everest, it was the first eight-thousander ever climbed in the cold season. Two more first winter ascents followed: in 1986 with Jerzy Kukuczka on Kangchenjunga and in 1988 solo on Lhotse. For the K2 expedition the now 67-year-old has put together a team of ten climbers, which combines more winter expertise than any other expedition before. Including him himself, there are five first winter ascenders of eight-thousanders: Aside from Wielicki, Urubko (Makalu, Gasherbrum II), Adam Bielecki (Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak), Artur Malek (Broad Peak) and Janusz Golab (Gasherbrum I). K2 experience is also abundant in the Polish team: Five of the ten Polish climbers who will set off for Pakistan on 29 December have already reached – in each case in summer – the summit of “Chogori”, how the native Balti call the mountain.

Bottled oxygen only for emergencies

There have been three serious attempts so far to climb K2 in winter, all failed below 8000 meters due to bad weather. Team members of an international expedition, also led by Wielicki, climbed highest in winter 2002/03 on the Chinese north side: Camp 4 at 7,650 meters was the terminal stop for Denis Urubko and Marcin Kaczkan (he is also part of this year’s team) on their summit attempt. This time, Wielicki wants to try it on the Pakistani south side of the mountain via the Cesen route (Southsoutheast Ridge), “but it depends on the conditions”. The Abruzzi Spur (Southeast ridge) is another possibility. Breathings masks are only intended for emergencies. Bottled oxygen “is not necessary, if you are well acclimatized. That’s the key,” Krzysztof told me when we talked at the ISPO trade fair in Munich last February about the upcoming winter expedition to K2.

“Others will score the goals”

The “King of the Eight-Thousanders”

He also wants to be on the mountain, but not to climb to the summit. He would not play “the first fiddle” when climbing, said Wielicki on Polish radio. “The goals will be scored by others.” First and foremost, the Pole, who became the fifth person in the world to scale all 14 eight-thousanders, is required in his role of expedition leader. So he will have to make the hard decision who out of his team of top climbers will form the summit team, if the opportunity arises.  “Denis Urubko, Janusz Golab and Adam Bielecki have certainly the biggest chances,” said Wielicki in an interview of the Swiss newspaper “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.

Circle would be closing

Nine of the 13 first winter ascents of eight-thousanders to date were made by exclusive Polish summit teams. Another involved a Polish climber: Piotr Morawski in 2005 with the Italian Simone Moro on Shishapangma. If you turn a blind eye, the first winter ascent of Makalu in 2009 could be included, even though the current Pole Denis Urubko (then successful with Moro) at that time was still Kazakh. After the prestigious first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2016 did not go to the account of Polish climbers, from the point of view of the “Ice Warriors” it is almost a matter of honor that this does not happen again on K2. For veteran Krzysztof Wielicki, the history of the Polish “Ice Warriors” would come full circle: “That would be a nice story. We started with the highest, Everest, and could finish with the second highest, K2.”

P.S.: The Spaniard Alex Txikon wants to announce his plans for this winter on Friday. If I was to bet money, I would do it on an Everest expedition with Simone Moro, Tamara Lunger and Muhammad Ali “Sadpara”.