The summer 2025 Karakorum for the 8000-meter peaks is over, and what a season it was. There were summits, deaths, disappointments and survivals. Was it a “successful” season? I’ll leave that judgment to others—but honestly, it often felt like safety took a back seat to ambition.
Safety or Summit First?
Conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir threatened to delay or cancel the season, but calm heads prevailed, and Pakistan issued 555 climbing permits across its peaks, surpassing last year’s total of 423. Pakistan has over 100 peaks above 7,000 meters.
A dry winter and above-average conditions in the Northern Territories created tough conditions across the Karakoram, with temperatures hitting 115°F/46°C in Chilas. While hot summertime temperatures are expected in Pakistan, temperatures are usually lower in the high mountains.
Reports indicated dry conditions lower on many mountains, with deep snow on the upper sections of all five of Pakistan’s 8,000-meter peaks: K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and Nanga Parbat. When precipitation reached the base camps, it was usually rain rather than snow.
Teams that usually open about their performance became uncharacteristically quiet. Rumors spread about poor cooperation across the peaks, especially regarding rope fixing.
Four Deaths
On July 4, Czech climber Klara Kolouchova slipped on rocks and fell to her death on Nanga Parbat to start a difficult season, as reported by the Indian Times. Then two climbers died on K2 from rockfall in the same area, between ABC and Camp 1.
On July 18, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) reported that Iftikhar Hussain Sadpara, from Skardu, working logistics for Lela Peak Expeditions and the American team Mountain Professionals, was killed by rockfall. Four climbers were struck by an avalanche on K2 below Camp 1; two returned safely to base camp, and one sustained minor injuries.
On July 28, German biathlon legend Laura Dahlmeier, 31, a double Olympic gold medalist and world champion, died from a fatal rockfall during a descent from Pakistan’s Laila Peak. Due to the rugged terrain and adverse conditions, her body was not recovered, as per her expressed wishes. The German newspaper DW reported and confirmed her death. Her death shook the Olympic community, as this remembrance on the Biathlon Family shows.
Imagine Nepal’s client, Guan Jing, died when struck by a rock on Tuesday night, August 12, 2025 (Pakistan time). She was descending from the summit. Both K2 bodies have been recovered, with one of the recovery team members injured by more rockfall. The Hong Kong Free Press reported and confirmed the news directly to me. I reached out to Imagine Nepal for a comment, but they did not respond to requests or mention her death on the site or social media.
My condolences to the friends and families of the lost.
K2 Summits – 42 Summits
Last year, 2024, five teams, mostly from Nepal, one from America, Madison Mountaineering, and some from Pakistan, like Summit Karakorum, completed around 65 summits on K2. This year was quite different, with no July summits, all in August, rare but not unprecedented.
K2 traditionally sees most summits in late July and into August. For the traditional summer season (i.e., not winter, when summits occur in January), there have been summits on August 1, 14, and 23. K2 summits are more impacted by the Jetstream, like this year, when it has just sat on top of K2 and the other 8000ers in the Northern Territories.
With widespread knowledge, discussion and near misses of the rockfall danger, most teams abandoned their expeditions after weeks of waiting, calculating that the danger to their staff and clients was too high. American teams like Madison Mountaineering and Mountain Professionals left, as did Mingma David Sherpa, the leader of Elete Expeditions and record holder for most K2 summits at six.
However, several teams calculated the risk/reward that they could summit and descend safely. The charge was led by Imagine Nepal’s Minga G, who has a history of climbing when others turn back.
Turkish climber, Gulnur Tumbat, told me in an interview:
When we were going up from the base camp (on August 6), there was not much talk about the rockfall specifically. Of course, everyone was aware of the risk, but I don’t think anyone knew it would be as bad as it turned out to be. In general, there were talks about how this season was different. A few of our teammates and Sherpas were on the mountain when the HAP Iftihar (from Laila Peak Logistics) lost his life. When they came back to BC, they were all spooked – naturally – and that’s when the weirdness of the season was mentioned.But again, before going for the summit push, there was no specific talk per rock falls, just general risks – including rockfalls. I should also add that a few people from our team started descending from Camp 3 early am (post-summit) to avoid rockfalls – to no avail. My Sherpa and I decided to descend at night to avoid rockfalls, again to no avail. Day or night didn’t matter. In short, it was constant rockfalls, and I don’t think anyone was expecting it.
On August 11, these teams summitted:
- Imagine Nepal: 7 members with 8 Sherpas
- Alpinist Climber Expedition: 3 members with 6 Sherpas
- Seven Summits Treks: 5 members with 5 Sherpas
- Elete Expeditions: 3 members with 2 Sherpas
- Masherbrum Expedition Treks & Tours: Two additional climbers summitted with one member and one Sherpa
- One claimed he was alone on the summit the day after the rest.
On August 12, French climber Serge Hardy said he summited alone, bringing the total to 42 summits with two deaths at K2. The Madison Mountaineering team, led by guide Terray Sylvester, with American client Ryan Mitchell and other climbers, collected over 600 pounds of trash from K2 base camp and advanced Base Camp. The dry year revealed a lot of trash that otherwise would have been hidden.
Ryan will be posting videos on his social channels soon:
Notable K2 Summits as posted by Karrar Haidri, on behalf of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, Maj General Irfan Arshad HI (M):
- Gulnur Tumbat (Turkey): First Turkish female to summit
- Czech climber Jan Polacek summited without supplemental oxygen
- Slovak Lenka Polackova summited without supplemental oxygen
- Siddhi Bahadur Tamang (Madison K2 Expedition) – 7th K2 Summit
- Mingma G (Nepal): Completed his sixth successful K2 summit
- Maria Alexandra Danila (Romania): First Romanian Female to summit K2
- Dilixiati Ailikuti (China): Youngest climber to summit K2
- Jangbu Sherpa and Sohail Sakhi: Summited without supplemental oxygen
Gasherbrum I: 17 summits
Despite being the harder of the two Gasherbrums, I had many summits in 2025:
- 8K Expeditions: 2 clients with 2 Sherpas
- Summit Karakorum: 4 summits
- Seven Summits Treks: 1 member, 2 Sherpas
- Imagine Nepal: 2 members, 2 Sherpas
- Active Adventure Holidays: 1 member with 1 Pakistani
Notable GI Summits:
- Abid Baig: Pakistani mountaineer Abid Baig summited without supplemental oxygen or porters.
- Sherpa guides Migma Saila and Pem Lakpa made no-oxygen ascents while leading a team for 8K Expeditions.
- Sashko Kedev (North Macedonia): First Macedonian to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks
- Rawya Abdullah (Egypt): Abdullah became the first Egyptian woman to summit Gasherbrum I
Gasherbrum II – Over with No Summits
On GII, Karakorum Expeditions and Summit Karakorum called off their bids. To my knowledge, there were no summits of GII in 2025.
Broad Peak: No Summits
In a true contradiction, similar to what we saw on Annapurna in April, the lower section below C1 on Broad Peak was a river of loose rock, while the upper mountain was deep unconsolidated snow. Both caused team after team to make an attempt, only to retreat due to the danger. Video courtesy of Norwegian climber Vibi Vibeke Andrea Sefland.
Nanga Parbat: 25 Summits
- Seven Summits Treks: five clients with 6 Sherpas
- Independent climbers: 7 summits: 2 from the Rupal side, 3 from the Diamar side and two on a new route.
Summits included climbers from Russia, Pakistan (5), the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, France, Nepali Sherpas, and unspecified Europeans. Famous German Alpinist David Göttler was successful on his fifth attempt on the Rupla Face in Alpine Style, summiting along with Boris Langenstein and Tiphaine Duperier.
Notable Nanga Parbat Summits:
- First complete ski descent: French ski mountaineers Tiphaine du Perier and Boris Langenstein made the first full ski descent from the summit via the Rupal Face, following the historic Schell route, reaching base camp entirely on skis.
- New alpine-style route: Russian climber Denis Urubko and his wife, Spanish climber Maria “Pipi” Cardell, established a brand-new route up the Diamir Face. They climbed without fixed ropes, supplemental oxygen, or established high camps.
- Paraglider descent: German climber David Goettler, who summited with the French skiers on June 24, completed his descent in just 30 minutes by paragliding from approximately 7,500 meters.
Congratulations to all who showed up.
Alan
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6 thoughts on “K2 2025 Coverage Wrap: A Rocky Season”
Thanks Allan.
Great coverage as always.
FYI ..I think Tyler Andrews will be back in October for another speed record ascent attempt .. in the remote chance .. you have not already heard ..
I heard. Thanks. At least it won’t be crowded!
Thanks Alan for such insightful commentary, always look forward to the climbing recaps per your knowledge …when is the 2025 season over?
Thanks. It’s done now for the 8000ers. There amy be a few independent climbing later in the year, but no more commercial clkmbs.
I’m reading Manaslu is still on the menu. Apparently a strong Sherpa team lead by Mingma David Sherpa and directly hired by the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal is on the way to Manaslu. They intend to fix the ropes and prepare the entire route by September 20 with international teams arriving in the next 2 weeks.
Yup, I expect Manaslu to see a record year with over 400 summits.