Bravo!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/opinion/k2-nepal-himalayas-everest-mountain-outdoors.html
It’s not often that a team of climbers attempts K2, the “Savage Mountain,” in winter.
Before this season, the world’s second-highest mountain, first climbed in 1954, had been tried only six times in the coldest months. Each effort ended in failure. Even so, last month two expeditions of Nepali climbers converged on the Godwin Austen Glacier in a remote corner of Pakistan to attempt the feat.
Neither of the groups was there to guide wealthy Western clients to the top and then take back seats to their accomplishments, as Nepalis in general and ethnic Sherpa in particular often do as the hired help. They were climbing for themselves. Both teams made it together to the 28,251-foot summit last Saturday, making a statement of teamwork and selflessness for Indigenous Himalayan climbers....
The Nepalis were not alone in attempting K2. Some 25 foreign mountaineers joined them in base camp. They spanned the spectrum of experience from professional alpinists to commercial clients paying a premium for Sherpa support. All wanted to be the first to reach the summit in winter.
Yet last Saturday, when 10 mountaineers left Camp 4 on the Abruzzi Ridge in minus-70 degree Fahrenheit weather and pushed toward K2’s summit, every one of them was Nepali. The teams led by Purja and Mingma G. combined forces, and were reinforced by an additional Sherpa from another expedition. They climbed the last few feet together while singing the national anthem of Nepal....
So much for what had been that most privileged, egocentric and colonial of pursuits. Let’s cheer the summiteers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/opinion/k2-nepal-himalayas-everest-mountain-outdoors.html
It’s not often that a team of climbers attempts K2, the “Savage Mountain,” in winter.
Before this season, the world’s second-highest mountain, first climbed in 1954, had been tried only six times in the coldest months. Each effort ended in failure. Even so, last month two expeditions of Nepali climbers converged on the Godwin Austen Glacier in a remote corner of Pakistan to attempt the feat.
Neither of the groups was there to guide wealthy Western clients to the top and then take back seats to their accomplishments, as Nepalis in general and ethnic Sherpa in particular often do as the hired help. They were climbing for themselves. Both teams made it together to the 28,251-foot summit last Saturday, making a statement of teamwork and selflessness for Indigenous Himalayan climbers....
The Nepalis were not alone in attempting K2. Some 25 foreign mountaineers joined them in base camp. They spanned the spectrum of experience from professional alpinists to commercial clients paying a premium for Sherpa support. All wanted to be the first to reach the summit in winter.
Yet last Saturday, when 10 mountaineers left Camp 4 on the Abruzzi Ridge in minus-70 degree Fahrenheit weather and pushed toward K2’s summit, every one of them was Nepali. The teams led by Purja and Mingma G. combined forces, and were reinforced by an additional Sherpa from another expedition. They climbed the last few feet together while singing the national anthem of Nepal....
So much for what had been that most privileged, egocentric and colonial of pursuits. Let’s cheer the summiteers.
