K2 Winter, Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa join forces at altitude
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Manuel Lugli
Action on K2 is gaining momentum and it’s almost impossible to keep up-to-date with the huge number of mountaineers currently aspiring for the historic first winter ascent of K2. Thanks to stable weather the Abruzzi Spur was literally swarming with teams, including Iceland’s John Snorri Sigurjonsson and Pakistan’s Muhammad Sadpara and his son Sajid Ali Sadpara who reached Camp 2 at 6700 meters, while Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and his Sherpa team have been working hard fixing ropes above Camp 2.
The big news is that this group of Nepalese mountaineers was joined and aided by the expedition led by Nirmal Purja. "Nims" and his team arrived later at Base Camp than other expeditions but as usual he wasted little time and almost immediately after arrival climbed up to Camp 1, each team member taking provisions and gear for four days in their 35 kg backpacks... The next day they continued up to Camp 2 where they spent two nights acclimatising, and as some members descended, Purja and Mingma Tenzi Sherpa pushed upwards, joining Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and his team and helping fix ropes to just below Camp 3 before descending and returning to Base Camp earlier today.
Writing on his site just a few hours ago, Purja stated "On 29th dec, I decided to hold my team at Camp 2 for an extra day of acclimatisation. After a careful assessment of the situation, it was decided that only a part of the team to carry on fixing above Camp 2 and the rest to descend down. The plan to make all my team members sleep at Camp 3 was unsuccessful. However, the mission to complete setting fixing lines to Camp 3 teaming with Mingma G was successfully completed yesterday. It’s great to see our Nepalese team uniting and working together for a common goal #K2winter."
