May 18, 2021
Vanessa O’Brien climbs to Camp 2 on K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. O’Brien has climbed the highest peak on every continent, skied to both poles, and reached the oceans’ lowest depths.
Estalin Suarez Valladolid
Fatigued, her adrenaline spent, her body trembling and her mind numb, Vanessa O’Brien tried hard to savour the moment. After a gruelling expedition of more than 50 days and a severe test of her mountaineering skills, physical stamina and mental strength, O’Brien had realised her dream.
She stood on top of the world, 8,849 metres (29,032 feet) above sea level on the summit of Mount Everest – a place she remembers as being a little bit wider and longer than a king-size mattress.
Why explorer Vanessa O’Brien left the corporate world to climb the world s tallest peaks Salon 1 hr ago To The Greatest Heights by Vanessa O Brien Photo illustration by Salon/Penny Vizcarra
The phrase
climbing a mountain is often used as a metaphor to describe doing something hard. And for good reason obviously, summiting a mountain, literally, is a challenging feat.
Author and mountain climber Vanessa O Brien knows this firsthand. She was the first American woman to climb K2, and as a dual citizen, the first British woman to return from its summit alive. But O Brien didn t grow up wanting to climb mountains a career she now doesn t advise young children to take up because of the dangers that come with it. In fact, before the 2007 financial crisis, O Brien was focused on a different kind of climb up the corporate ladder. Once her career fell into a tailspin in 2008, she decided to take up mountain climbing as a hobby that eventually t
Kathy Gannon February 09, 2021 - 8:12 AM
ISLAMABAD - K2 s âsavageâ peak beckons the daring, but rare is the climber who answers the call in winter.
Dwarfed only by Mount Everest, K2 is the worldâs second highest peak at 8,611 metres (28,250 feet), and it is one of the deadliest, killing one climber for every four who succeed in reaching its summit through its steep rock faces, glacier climbs and devastatingly brutal weather.
In winter, the odds are even worse.
This week, hope is waning for some of the latest mountaineers to attempt it. Ali Sadapar of Pakistan, Jon Sorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile were last heard from on Friday and were reported missing Saturday. Heavy clouds obscuring the mountain have repeatedly forced halts in the search for them.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
K2′s “savage” peak beckons the daring, but rare is the climber who answers the call in winter.
Dwarfed only by Mt. Everest, K2 is the world’s second-highest peak at 28,251 feet, and it is one of the deadliest, killing one climber for every four who succeed in reaching its summit through its steep rock faces, glacier climbs and devastatingly brutal weather.
In winter, the odds are even worse.
This week, hope is waning for some of the latest mountaineers to attempt it. Muhammad Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, John Sorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile were last heard from on Friday and were reported missing Saturday. Heavy clouds obscuring the mountain have repeatedly forced halts in the search for them.