Zhumayev's expedition ascended the first 500 meters of K2

Participants of the international expedition to K2 started ascending Chogori mount on June 6. According to Kazakhstan alpinist Maksut Zhumayev, the sportsmen have already ascended 500 meters to the point of 5,700 meters above the sea level: they fixed the ropes and set safety equipment. “We were very tired. We installed 500 meters of ropes towards the second camp, to the snow crest. The road turned out to be in a good condition. There were two scary spots, but we coped with them just fine,” Zhumayev said. Half of the team worked on K2, Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov from Kazakhstan and Ralf Dujmovits from Germany. The other participants, Darek Zaluski (Poland) Tommy Heinrich (Argentina) and Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner (Austria) continued lifting equipment from the advance camp to the first camp. “We made changes to our initial plans. Earlier we thought that we would work in trios: one trio will carry loads and another will work on the mount. But today we decided to change the plan. We will go to K2 together. We will try to use the good weather to our advantage and ascend as close to the second camp as possible,” Kazakhstan sportsman said. After the day's work alpinists rested in the first camp and build up their strength for the next ascend. “We drink a lot of water as we lose around 400 grams of liquid every day when working on the mount. The liquid level has to be restores, so that there are no health problems. The rest is fine. We are in a good mood.” According to forecasts, the weather will remain good for another two-three days in Karakorum mountain system where K2 is located. Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that on July 5 the alpinists set the camp from which they are running the preparations for the ascent to K2. It is located at 5,300 meters above the sea level, while the height of K2 mount in 8,611 meters above the sea level.