By a combination of factors such as unpredictable avalanches and steep slope. At 8,611 meters, the second highest mountain in the world – second only to Everest – is the champion in terms of danger. For every four climbers who reach the top of K2 in the Himalayas, one dies. “The conditions are so bad that years go by without anyone reaching the summit”, says Waldemar Niclevicz, the only Brazilian to conquer the boulder.
CONSULTANCY – Waldemar Niclevicz, Brazilian climber, author of the book Um Sonho Chamado K2
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DEATH’S PEAK
Avalanches, blizzards, gigantic walls, climate instability: this is the menu that awaits K2 explorers
Bad face
The look of the rock already gives hints of what is to come. “Ice slopes and exposed rocks, like those on K2, indicate stretches of high inclination, where not even the snow can stop”, says Niclevicz. It is not uncommon for climbers to face very steep blocks – such as the Black Pyramid, a wall of almost a thousand meters -, or even with negative inclinations!
fatal chasms
For those who saw the movie Vertical Limit, it is easy to imagine the drama of falling into the crevasses, deep and treacherous cracks in the ice. Many of these cracks are covered by snow, making them legitimate traps. To avoid surprises, in some stretches, climbers are attached to each other by ropes
in the hat house
To reach the base of the mountain, it is necessary to travel, for seven days, almost one hundred kilometers of rugged trail – detail: on foot. And if Everest is inhabited up to an altitude of 5,000 meters, on K2 the last villages are at 3,000 meters. That is, on the descent the path back to civilization is much longer.
snow desert
Unlike Everest, which has forests and even some waterfalls along the way, K2 is a very arid mountain. “There is not even drinking water. It is a desolate environment, which makes the ascent psychologically even more difficult”, says Niclevicz
Down not every saint helps…
Even if the subject makes it to the summit alive, there is nothing to celebrate, because now is when the danger “begins”: most accidents occur on the way down. Exhausted, the climber does not have the same reflexes, concentration is weakened and decision-making becomes an ordeal.
Bad weather
K2 is subject to six different air fronts, so the (bad) weather changes all the time. In addition to the low temperature – the thermal sensation can reach minus 50ºC -, meteorological hell has snowfall, fog and winds of up to 100 km/h! In 1995, six people died after being blown into the abyss by a gale.
Look at the heavy!
Of every four deaths that occur on K2, one is caused by avalanches: in addition to being very common – due to the high slope of the mountain -, they are unpredictable. As if avalanches were not enough, huge suspended blocks of ice (seracs) can also break loose from the mountain and fall on climbers.
lethal zone
At 7,500 metres, an imaginary line called the “vertical limit” is crossed. “From there, we know that the body starts to die,” says Niclevicz. To make better use of oxygen, the body produces more red blood cells, and the blood becomes denser. As the blood vessels at the fingertips are thinner, blood takes a long time to reach these parts, which can become gangrenous.
mountain sickness
In the higher regions, the air is quite rarefied. That’s when the «mountain sickness» begins to roll, which can cause everything from nausea and headaches to edema – swelling in the brain and lungs that lead to death. And it’s no use screaming for help: the thin air makes it very difficult for sound to propagate
DUEL OF GIANTS
Everest is taller, but K2 is deadlier
k2
Height – 8 611 m
People who reached the summit – 299
Deaths – 77
Fatality rate – 25.75%
everest
Height – 8 848 m
People who reached the summit – 2 972
Deaths – 208
Fatality rate – 7%