Annals Of Adventure–Agony On K2: TWC has said it once–okay more than once–and now I’ll say it again. Forget Everest. The toughest 8,000 meter mountain out there–along with Annapurna–is K2. Fewer people have climbed, a greater percentage have died trying, it’s the mountain of mountains. This year was the 50th anniversary of the Italian expedition that first topped the beast, and lots of climbers have been out there trying to match their feat. Two of them–Juanito Oiarzabal (48) and Edurne Pasaban (30)–are Spaniards, and they succeeded in getting to the summit and back (making Erdune the only woman still living who has been to the top). But it was a horrific ordeal, and came at a high price. Juanito and Erdune gave a searing interview to El Correo Digital, from their hospital beds in Islamabad, and Explorer’s Web has published it in a three part series. Juanito and Erdune were brutally frank, so if you want to get as close as you can to climbing the damn thing yourself, check it out:

Part 1. Late Italians, a gale at The Bottleneck, and killer snow conditions: “[A]t first it was OK, but once inside the Bottleneck it f*cked up. We started to climb, and had the first quarrel. We all had doubts. But I was the only one who had been there before. I was the one who knew what lay ahead. So I had a little fight with you (pointing to Edurne) when you said: “come on, let’s go up!”. I answered “What the…? Look Edurne, I am the only one here who has climbed this mountain and I know what to do up there and what’s still left, so be quiet and let’s think about what we should do!”

Part 2. The Agony Of The Summit: “We were climbing 150 m pitches on only one safety screw; there was no way to put anything else. Each of the pitches took about one hour and a half. There was so much snow that we actually had to swim in it. There was nothing but tricks on that f*cking peak. So with that, of course, time passed… Then an Italian showed he had guts and opened the trail up to the summit ridge and, from there, to the final saddle….The last steps were plainly impossible to take. I couldn’t bear the pain.”

Part 3. Trouble: “And I tell Juan, “Hey, I think I am not getting out of here, eh? I am f*cking bad and I am going to f*cking have a tough time to get out.” I recall clearly saying exactly that. But I managed to stand back up on my feet again and Silvio roped us and helped us back down to the saddle. There, at 8500m, the night fell. So I grabbed Juan again, who was there waiting for us and told him: “Juan, I am f*cked up”…We crossed every limit and every rule an alpinist is supposed to maintain!”



Erdune Pasaban, Queen of K2: “Hey! I was there to climb that damn mountain…so I climbed it!”

(Photo: Via Explorer’s Web)