First, Happy\u00a0Losar 2148 to my Sherpa friends. The Seven Summits Treks K2 team is back in Islamabad or already home. The 2020\/21 winter K2 season has ended leaving three climbers on the mountain, and two, their bodies, transported back to Islamabad and eventually home.<\/p>\n
We have a clue as to how the two died, but the missing three remains a mystery in spite of extensive search efforts. I don’t believe in speculation and will not engage. At the other end of the climbing spectrum, there were ten summits on January 16, 2021 by nine Sherpas and Nirmal Purja, of Majar descent, who didn’t use supplemental oxygen.<\/p>\n
I find it odd that the climbing community continues to question their claims citing transparency. But who certifies summit claims? Honestly it’s up to the community, the individual and the countries who issue certificates. However, there is no single body that manages the sport, much less adjudicates\u00a0summit claims. I’ve asked the Himalayan Database several times over the years on how they verify claims, and the answer is consistently, “We trust the climbers.”<\/p>\n
Do I have a problem with those who fake their summits? Absolutely, and I was thrilled to see Nepal take action, albeit late, on the two Indian<\/a> climbers who photoshopped themselves into summit photos for Everest in 2016. They are now banned for six years. And was it wrong when Christian Stangl<\/a> claimed a K2 summit seeking accolades for reaching the 2nd Seven Summits in 2010? Absolutely. But to assume, or even slightly suggest a climbing team is lying without any evidence when there is plenty, well, that feels like click-baiting to me. We can do better.<\/p>\n The K2-Ten, as I like to call them, posted a video as they reached the true summit. I recognized the view from my 2014 summit.\u00a0I like this quote from Mingma David Sherpa<\/a>\u00a0on Instagram. Of course, he was one of the ten who summited K2 on January 16, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n What are the Challenges for conquering mount K2 in winter?\u00a0<\/span>Weather was unpredictable as wind speed was like typhoon speed which was more than 30-40 knots in a good day! It was worse in the bad weather.\u00a0Temperature was below -40 to -50 degree Celsius. It was beyond for any normal people imagination.\u00a0Route to summit was on the next level with vertical steep and blue ice routes.\u00a0Air pressure was quite low so that means we are shorten of breathe. Every breathe was providing us strength to push our feet.\u00a0But non the less we had brotherhood inspiration and motivation pushing to our extreme limits which guides us to the summit of k2 in winter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mingma G posted summit videos on his Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and Instagram<\/a> pages. Nirmal Purja provide more details on their summit bid in this brief interview:<\/p>\n Killing all rumours about fixed ropes, Nirmal Purja categorically narrating how he fixed ropes from C-2\/3 (upto which Ali Satpara has fixed) onward to Summit, for the reason they have to descent at night @EverestToday<\/a> @russianclimb<\/a> @alan_arnette<\/a> @BBCUrdu<\/a> @Dailyk2_GB<\/a> @Alpine_Pakistan<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/EEZMqxZaOa<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 TheNortherner (@TheNortherner12) February 17, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n