As of 3:30 am, Monday, February 8, 2021,(Pakistan Standard Time), John Snorri, Muhammad Ali Sadpara, and Juan Pablo (JP) Mohr Prieto remain missing, with no trace of them found after multiple helicopter searches.
We are learning more about what happened at the Bottleneck directly from Ali’s son, Sajid. Of note, he said he and his father were climbing without supplemental oxygen but had a bottle in their pack for emergencies. Also, when he left the three missing climbers, they had no radio or satellite phone. He believes they summited and had an accident on the descent in the Bottleneck, but he cannot be sure.
Sergi Mingote on Lhotse. Photo: Sergi Mingote.
As is often true in the mountains, triumph has walked hand in hand with tragedy this winter in the Karakorum. The first winter ascent of K2 (8,848 meters), undertaken by a fully Nepalese team (with co-leader Nirmal “Nims” Purja summiting without bottled oxygen), has captivated viewers around the globe. Sadly, just prior to the ascent, the Spaniard Sergi Mingote, Co-Leader of the Seven Summits Treks (SST) team on K2, perished after a long fall while descending to Advanced Base Camp from Camp 1 (6,050 meters).
The 49-year-old Mingote was attempting to summit K2 without bottled oxygen this winter, and had already tackled seven 8000ers without O2. He was in the process of attempting to summit all 14 8,000-meter peaks in the same style, all within a 1,000-day push, a potentially record-breaking project he called the “14X1000 Catalonia Project” (the endeavor was interrupted due to COVID-19).
Inspired by Everest’s first winter summit in 1980, a 1983 Polish expedition went to K2 in the winter for reconnaissance. They found byzantine logistics, uncooperative government authorities, and costs that exceeded the most generous budgets. Now, 38 years later, K2 has been summited in the winter.
Around 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 16, 2021, a team of 10 Sherpas and Nepalis stood on the summit of the world’s second-highest mountain, K2, on the border of Pakistan and China. It was the last of the world’s 14 8,000 meter peaks still unclimbed in winter. They are positioning the summit as a victory for Nepal and the Sherpa nation. All 10 climbers stopped 30 feet below the summit on a relatively safe spot (still on a 40-degree snow slope at 28,200-feet) so that they could summit together in a sign of solidarity. No individual was listed as first.
Alpinist.com
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UPDATE, January 16:A team of 10 Nepali/Sherpa climbers from separate expeditions climbed the final meters to the summit together as one group at 5 p.m., completing K2 s first winter ascent. You can find our story about that here.
UPDATE, January 15:Alan Arnette reports that a new all-time winter high point has been attained 7800 meters by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and Seven Summit Treks leaders Mingma David Sherpa, Mingma Tenzi Sherpa and Sona Sherpa. They have reached Camp 4 and hope to stand on the summit within the next 24 hours.