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A Nepali team has made the first winter ascent of K2
- Ayesh 6y agoI follow @nimsdai on Instagram, he took the initiative for this. Very nice content if you like that sort of content. He (and I'm sure the others are too) are some real-life super humans!
- sebmellen 6y agoI've always wondered why we don't see sherpas holding all the climbing records, given how much better adapted they are to their environments than most other mountaineers. Maybe this is the beginning of a new trend! The sentiment is at least echoed in the article: > In the 2015 newswire, Green quoted Dawa Gyalje Sherpa: "We are hoping as young climbers, to take climbing in Nepal to a new level. All of us have climbed much bigger mountains but always with foreign climbers. We want to show that we are not just porters on the mountain, climbing only for our livelihood, but we are interested in climbing because we enjoy it, too.... We are the young generation of Sherpa climbers but we are looking to the future of Nepal and Sherpas also."
- krallistic 6y agoIts nice to see Nepal with this first winter books finally in the history books. They done so much for mountaineering.
- sonalr 6y agoSomewhat related, highly recommend this documentary. It really shows the untold story of how hard of a life it is for a porter in the Everest region of Nepal. This is such a great story, and very well done by Nathaniel Menninger. https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs https://youtu.be/MxAU4wWG2Hs
- intrepidhero 6y agoSherpas were on all the big western expeditions that I know of. Their names are just usually dropped when talking about it, which is a shame. I recently read Krakauer's Into Thin Air and appreciated that he treated the sherpas on the expedition as fellow humans. They figured as important as anyone else in the story. He was also careful when talking about past climbs to mention all the climbers, sherpa and otherwise. Very interesting book for me. I knew (know?) very little about mountaineering.
- sebmellen 6y agoThat's very nice to hear, and I'll check the book out. While on a cruise ship last July (well, 2019) I made friends with a Nepalese security screw and we talked about Nepal and their family occupations. It's very sad to hear of how disposably sherpas are treated on the vanity tours by unskilled foreign climbers. Basically the sherpas end up dragging along their clients and they face outsized risk on the way.
- strstr 6y agoFor a long time, both Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary evaded the question of who summitted Everest first. They reached the top as a team. Most of the "forgetting" seems to happen when it comes to communicating about larger, less notable expeditions.
- Someone 6y agoLarger? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_British_Mount_Everest_expedition#Expedition_participants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_British_Mount_Everest_exp...: “The mountaineers were accompanied […] by 362 porters, so that the expedition in the end amounted to over four hundred men, including twenty Sherpa guides from Tibet and Nepal, with a total weight of ten thousand pounds of baggage” I don’t know the details of that expedition, but typically, the sherpas make multiple trips up and down the mountain to bring the necessary material up to height, so that those paying can relatively comfortably acclimatize at height. Climbing Everest almost always is a team effort. Even if you ignore those porters , those “twenty Sherpa guides from Tibet and Nepal”, IMO, deserve to be mentioned there more than Jan Morris, who didn’t make it further up the mountain than 22,000 feet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Morris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Morris). (and aside: ten thousand pounds of baggage seems very low to me. That’s less than 30 pounds per porter ⇒ I guess that’s what made it to the highest camp)
- HotHotLava 6y agoWhile the Sherpa were crucial to success of the expedition, it's also important not to jump to the other extreme and underestimate the contributions of the British party. This was not a "guided" expedition where the clients were just going up in the wind shadow. Back in 1953, it's pretty unlikely that sherpa party could have summitted on their own. If I remember correctly (it's a while since I read Hillary's account of the expedition), only three of the sherpa were able to go up to camp 4, and two of those them had to turn back due to altitude sickness. Tenzing Norgay did not have the technical knowledge to operate the oxygen systems. Also, crampons were far less advanced back then, so the mountaineers were also responsible for cutting steps every few days for all the routes that the porters were using to haul gear.
- jariel 6y agoThey may be culturally and physically acclimatized to mountains in every way, but not likely to the notion of 'mountaineering/climbing' in the romantic sense. After all it serves no purpose, requires development of new tech, money etc.. I don't think anyone doubts they couldn't have done it long ago were some local ruler to have made it a priority. I wonder if they thought the original European 'explorers' to be completely mad. So that leaves the question: the mountains were 'right there' and they had innate ability, so why didn't they 'just do it', and have the routes all mapped out for centuries already? Is I think the rhetorical question that unpacks a lot of things.
- sebmellen 6y agoThat is an interesting question. I think the most obvious answer is that exploration is predicated on a certain level of technological advancement, below which it is completely unreasonable. If you don't have a food surplus and some academic establishment and governance and trade routes, exploration is an unreasonable vanity project. Guns, Germs, and Steel grazes this topic. As Nepal develops further, I expect to see more of these sorts of headlines.
- beerandt 6y agoLet's not dismiss nation-state exploration with having an overly indulgent hobby. Establishing and mapping boundaries, demonstrating military abilities, and even finding/protecting the trade routes you speak of, all required exploration on a large scale. Not to mention things like establishing trade and a friendly presence with locals, establishing surveillance posts, and my personal favorite, surveying the geoid, as a means to better ICBM guidance. Military always makes reason, and I suspect that might also be at play in Nepal.
- spanktheuser 6y agoIt’s also predicated on the existence of an economy which provides ample leisure for some while others labor ceaselessly at the edges of poverty. There’s a reason the Indian sub-continent lacked a food surplus, academic establishments, strong governance etc. Great Britain looted an estimated $45 billion from its Indian colonies during the 173 years of its rule.
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoIt’s been said that history is written by the winners. I guess you could also say history is written by the people who pay for it.
- iamaaditya 6y agoI believe there is some form of memory bias or bias in reporting by the media. If you look at the record books, you will find that most records are held by Sherpas. For example, more than 70 records for Mount Everest is held my Sherpas (or other Nepalese climbers) [1], far more than climbers from any other country. Apa Sherpa, one of the most prolific Sherpas, holds many records [2]. Interesting fact he was Sherpa to Peter Hillary (Edmund's son). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mount_Everest_records https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mount_Everest_records [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apa_Sherpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apa_Sherpa
- snowwrestler 6y agoIt takes a lot of disposable income to be a serious climber. Top Western climbers are either well-off or funded by the well-off (patrons, companies, or even governments sometimes). This funding has historically not been available directly to Sherpas. That is partially because they did not have platforms to influence the purchasing decisions of a large audience (the main reason companies fund full-time climbers). And it’s partially because Western cultures tended not to value indigenous people the same way it valued their own citizens. Both of those have been changing a lot in the past decade, and it’s nice to see younger Sherpas able to take advantage of that.
- pcthrowaway 6y ago> It takes a lot of disposable income to be a serious climber. If you're not specifically talking about high-altitude climbing, then I'd argue this is wrong. There are famous *serious* climbers like Fred Beckey who managed to make climbing their entire lives on next to no income. Lots of serious climbers build up their rack from "booty" (taking material abandoned by other climbers in a range of situations, often bordering on questionably unethical), live in a van or a tent, hitchhike, etc.
- franzb 6y agoThe climbing permit for Everest alone costs $11000.
- pcthrowaway 6y agoAgain, if you're not specifically talking about high-altitude climbing. High-altitude climbing is barely even the same discipline as what 99% of climbers do.
- AniseAbyss 6y agoVoluntarily climbing the top of a mountain is like a hobby rich people do. Later it became a matter of nationalism. A climbing expedition takes a ton of money.
- nix23 6y agoBS. Climbing was first done by crazy Mountain Kids, then the big state sponsored expeditions started (a first that was the north and south-pole), GB missed both and shifted to the biggest mountain with GB "Won" the race, hence the name of Everest as the "third pole". A modern (new age) expedition looks more like that (no Sherpas no help from others who don't climb): http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP10/climbing-note-siegrist http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP10/climbing-note-siegrist Thalay Sagar with Stephan Siegrist and Rob Frost
- SubiculumCode 6y agoWe need to start living on Mars, if only to give climbers new mountains to climb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountains_on_Mars_by_height https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountains_on_Mars_by_h...
- NickNameNick 6y agoI think it's going to be a while before we see "First ascent of Olympus Mons without supplemental oxygen"
- wbl 6y agoOlympus Mons is an easy climb with life support because it isn't very steep.
- Synaesthesia 6y agoOlympus Mons is almost the size of France and is 21 km high. Gentle slope but still, quite a hike.
- SubiculumCode 6y agoInteresting, but how Texas turned into France has to be the bigger story ;)
- yowlingcat 6y agoWell, my friend, it all began with an innocuous rebranding of "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries" on balmy afternoon...
- Synaesthesia 6y agoWhen I was young I had a picture of Olympus Mons superimposed on Texas. It's pretty big
- SubiculumCode 6y agothat said. I'd put it on my cv.
- vijaykcm 6y agoThere was a post on it earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25803599 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25803599.
- Xenoamorphous 6y agoJust today we got the news here in Spain that a spanish alpinist, Sergi Mingote, died while descending from K2. There were multiple teams attempting this, then?
- remus 6y agoI believe so. As I understand it (this is all third hand so take it with a pinch of salt) there are other teams who are waiting for another weather window to make an attempt.
- schwax 6y agohttps://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2021/01/16/winter-k2-update-first-winter-k2-summit https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2021/01/16/winter-k2-update... > There are around 20 climbers aspiring to summit, and claim a winter K2 summit. Some have acclimatized to Camp 3 but most have only reached Camp 1. Some will end their effort based on today’s first summit, and citing rockfall danger, others will still retain their motivation. We’ll see what the final K2 winter 2020/21 total is in a few weeks.
- snowwrestler 6y agoThere were several teams, and it’s my understanding that some of them had paying clients, which is pretty controversial. I saw a bunch of social media posts that were veiled complaints about bringing paid clients into a such a serious situation. With the possible exception of the other teams on the mountain, I think all the big mountain climbers are psyched that it was the Sherpas to do it.
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoI’m an American, and I visited Pakistan on a whim back in September. I was able to spend a few days in the north. I can only say the north of Pakistan is incredible. There’s nothing that prepares you for seeing 8000+ meter mountains for the first time. There’s no shortage of people offering tours, but I made my own plans. I rented a Toyota Hilux 4x4 for 4 days at $50/day, and they insisted I hire a driver because they didn’t trust me to drive solo (which in retrospect was wise of them because of language barriers, road conditions, police/military checkpoints, etc.). The driver quoted me a rate of $3/day (not a typo). I drove from Islamabad to Hunza and back in 3 days (I could only get one day off work, lol). It was way too much driving, but the trip was still incredible. To make the trip extra fun, I had the worst case of food poisoning w/ diarrhea that I’ve ever had for the entire time. I developed that the night before I was scheduled to drive off. So in the morning I picked up some Imodium and baby wipes, and just stopped every hour or two. I somehow managed to avoid shitting in my pants, but I don’t know how. Nearly every bathroom in Pakistan, which might just be a hole in the ground, has a handheld bidet, which is a power washer for your backside. No matter how messy it got, I also walked away from a pit stop with a fresh backside. Here’s some pictures of the traveling, sans pit stops... https://photos.app.goo.gl/tZ3scbSFbPbxQCpG7 https://photos.app.goo.gl/tZ3scbSFbPbxQCpG7
- TCS_ 6y agoThat poor driver... +1 for those pictures! Incredible scenery
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoI gave him a really nice tip :)
- gautamcgoel 6y ago...like, a week's wages? $21?
- PopeDotNinja 6y ago
- Syzygies 6y agoI met Charles Houston, leader of the first two American expeditions on K2. He approached me to have me explain the mathematics of card shuffling, and I traded an hour listening to him explain the medicine of altitude sickness (which helped me later on some modest climbs). He was on the wrong end of "The Belay" on the second climb, but survived. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Snead_Houston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Snead_Houston
- dredmorbius 6y agohttp://bwamm.blogspot.com/2007/12/famed-schoening-ice-axe.html http://bwamm.blogspot.com/2007/12/famed-schoening-ice-axe.ht...
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- tangue 6y agoFor those wondering how hard it is : More people have traveled to space than have summited K2 in summer [1]. [1] https://www.mountainfilm.org/media/breathtaking-k2-%E2%80%93-the-worlds-most-dangerous-mountain https://www.mountainfilm.org/media/breathtaking-k2-%E2%80%93...
- sh87 6y agocounting people who have tried and failed to summit K2 vs space travel is (to me) a better quantification.
- x3iv130f 6y ago23-29% of the climbers who try K2 die in the attempt. It is at the very least an order of magnitude more dangerous than space flight.
- actuator 6y agoJust to add, Annapurna is the deadliest 8000er. With Kanchenjunga, K2 in second depending on where you get stats from.
- saberience 6y agoI always thought Nanga Parbat was more deadly than Kanchenjunga.
- Syzygies 6y agoThis "Fatality Rate" compares successful summits and returns to those who die trying. Worded this way, it's a tricky number to pin down. You could be with a group that never planned to choose you as part of the smaller summit party, and still die on the mountain. But it's far from true that a quarter of people who visit the mountain die.
- whereistimbo 6y agoThe real russian roulette...
- mac_was 6y agoWorth noting that the team used oxygen, which wasn't the case in some other unsuccessful recent tries. It is a great achievement for them but it was known that you can do it accompanied by the help of oxygen or a team using it.
- saiya-jin 6y agoThis. Using oxygen is regarded by all mountaineering professionals as 'bringing the mountain down to your level', no matter what season. So the ultimate goal - climbing it in the winter, without bottled oxygen, remains open to others. It has been achieved on all other peaks, but requires many things to come together including huge amount of luck (but that's valid for any 8000m peak). I would much rather see some elite, whatever the country, climb it in alpine style. The persons who achieve this can be rightfully titled kings of current high altitude mountaineering. Simone Moro, Nirmal Purja and few others have the potential.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
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