K2 expedition covered a record distance in one day

K2 mount. Photo courtesy of Maksut Zhumayev

Participants of the international expedition to K2 have once again reached the height of 6600 meters. Their yesterday trip from the first camp to the second was one of the most difficult and exhausting among all their ascents. Here is what a Kazakh member of the expedition Maksut Zhumayev has to say about it: “We have worked for 11 hours today. We are completely exhausted. We were lucky there wasn’t that much snow on the slopes in the beginning. Our backpacks are still extremely heavy – around 20 kg each. Winds are very strong. We brought only a little water and we run out of it fast. The blood has become more condensed, it is hard to talk and I don’t feel like thinking at all. We will melt some snow now, drink it and get restored,” Zhumayev shared the details of the exhausting trip from the first camp to the second. On August 3 the alpinist ascended 1300 meters of Chogori. This is a record distance in the whole period of the expedition. According to experienced climbers few well trained sportsmen are capable of covering such a route in the mountains carrying 20-kg-backpacks even at lower altitudes. “We made it to the second camp! Everything is fine with us, don’t worry! Tomorrow (August 4) we will move our schedule towards evening, because we need rest. There will be less snow tomorrow and a lighter schedule. The backpacks will even heavier though, because we will have to pick up a tent here and bring it on with us higher,” the alpinist added. The goal of the fourth ascent the team is making now is to set a summit camp at the height of 8000 meters. The international expedition to K2 includes Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov from Kazakhstan, Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner from Austria, Ralf Dujmovits from Germany, Darek Zaluski from Poland and Tommy Heinrich from Argentina. Chogori is located in the Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.

Participants of the international expedition to K2 have once again reached the height of 6600 meters. Their yesterday trip from the first camp to the second was one of the most difficult and exhausting among all their ascents. Here is what a Kazakh member of the expedition Maksut Zhumayev has to say about it: “We have worked for 11 hours today. We are completely exhausted. We were lucky there wasn’t that much snow on the slopes in the beginning. Our backpacks are still extremely heavy – around 20 kg each. Winds are very strong. We brought only a little water and we run out of it fast. The blood has become more condensed, it is hard to talk and I don’t feel like thinking at all. We will melt some snow now, drink it and get restored,” Zhumayev shared the details of the exhausting trip from the first camp to the second. On August 3 the alpinist ascended 1300 meters of Chogori. This is a record distance in the whole period of the expedition. According to experienced climbers few well trained sportsmen are capable of covering such a route in the mountains carrying 20-kg-backpacks even at lower altitudes. “We made it to the second camp! Everything is fine with us, don’t worry! Tomorrow (August 4) we will move our schedule towards evening, because we need rest. There will be less snow tomorrow and a lighter schedule. The backpacks will even heavier though, because we will have to pick up a tent here and bring it on with us higher,” the alpinist added. The goal of the fourth ascent the team is making now is to set a summit camp at the height of 8000 meters. The international expedition to K2 includes Maksut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov from Kazakhstan, Gerlinda Kaltenbrunner from Austria, Ralf Dujmovits from Germany, Darek Zaluski from Poland and Tommy Heinrich from Argentina. Chogori is located in the Karakorum mountain system in Kashmir province at the territory of Pakistan. Its height is 8,611 meters.

Kazakhstan Kazakh K2 expedition climbing climbers Chogori Asia Pacific alpinism