The Throne Room of Mountain Gods.

[krash]

Post the other pics soon..... Do u have pics of the Abzurri Spur trail??

Do anyone has pics or videos of 'South Face or Polish Line' ?
@krash ........ are you a mountaineer?

Yeah, an amateur though.


The South-East Ridge (or the Abruzzi Ridge/Spur route):

^^^^
Komin House'a => The House Chimney
Oboz => Camp
Czarna Piramida => The Black Pyramid
Ramie=> K2's Shoulder
Szyjka Butelki => The Bottle Neck
Serak => Seracs
Broad Peak is blocking out the bottom part of the route so you can't see Camp 1 or the Abruzzi Spur itself.

Here you can see all the older, more established southern routes:

Red/(1): West Ridge

Orange/(2): South Ridge

Black/(3): South Face (This has a little variation in its starting point, see the second picture)

Green/(4): South-South-East spur or the Cesen route

Yellow/(5): South-East Ridge or the Abruzzi Spur

 

[Aka123]

Yeah, an amateur though.


The South-East Ridge (or the Abruzzi Ridge/Spur route):

^^^^
Komin House'a => The House Chimney
Oboz => Camp
Czarna Piramida => The Black Pyramid
Ramie=> K2's Shoulder
Szyjka Butelki => The Bottle Neck
Serak => Seracs
Broad Peak is blocking out the bottom part of the route so you can't see Camp 1 or the Abruzzi Spur itself.

Here you can see all the older, more established southern routes:

Red/(1): West Ridge

Orange/(2): South Ridge

Black/(3): South Face (This has a little variation in its starting point, see the second picture)

Green/(4): South-South-East spur or the Cesen route

Yellow/(5): South-East Ridge or the Abruzzi Spur

Have heard that South face is the toughest and least climbed?
What about North face, is it in China side or Pakistan? You have to cross Shaksgam river for North right?

 

[krash]

Have heard that South face is the toughest and least climbed?
What about North face, is it in China side or Pakistan? You have to cross Shaksgam river for North right?

Ah the first is a difficult question, so I'll tackle the second first.

Yup, Northern side is in China with 2 established routes; North Ridge and the North-West Face (Not to be confused with the North-West Ridge). The Chinese side of the mountain is the less frequently visited side, and there are usually no climbers on this side of the mountain. Even though it's less technical to get to the northern base camp, its more difficult in the sense that its not very organized; you have to manage everything by yourself. The Pakistani side is more popular because 1) Most of the mountain is in Pakistan, 2) Except 2, all the routes are completely on the Pakistani side, 3) The easiest route is on the Pakistani side, 4) the most climbed route is on the Pakistani side, 5) the trek to get to the Pakistani side is a lot more organized; porters, midway camps, etc., etc. And yes, I've heard that you have to cross Shaksgam to get to the Chinese side. But the lesser frequency also has it's own allure

The North Ridge and the North-West Ridge:

(The North Ridge is the route that Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner climbed up, making her the first woman to climb all the eight-thousanders without oxygen)

Ok, now for the most difficult. Well, it kinda depends on whom you ask about it. The most easy is the Cesen and the most frequently taken is the Abruzzi (But I'm sure you know that these are still one of the most difficult routes in the world. Goes to show the character of K2). The South Face, the South-South-West Pillar (or the so called Magic Line) and the North-West Ridge are all said to be the hardest. The "Magic Line" is the one that Reinhold Messner went to attempt, looked at, called it the suicide route, abandoned it and went up the Abruzzi. This is also the route most widely considered to be the most difficult followed by the South Face.

Abruzzi Spur-> 178 summits and 52 deaths. Fatality rate: 29.2%

Cesen -> 55 summits and 10 deaths. Fatality rate: 18.2

North Ridge (Chinese) -> 28 summits and 6 deaths. Fatality rate: 21.4%

Magic Line -> 4 summits and 6 deaths. Fatality rate: 150%

South Face -> 2 summits and 1 death. Fatality rate: 50%

North-West Face -> 2 summits and 0 deaths. Fatality rate: 0%

North-West Ridge -> 2 summits and 0 deaths. Fatality rate: 0%

Interestingly two routes are still un-climbed:

East Face-> 0 summits and 1 death. Fatality rate: 100%

North Face (North-East)-> 0 summits and 0 deaths.

(Note: These stats, sadly, don't show the failed attempts and they are only till the 2008 climbing season. But the stats for the most difficult faces have remained unchanged to my knowledge)

All the routes:

I have a book with some route details, has a good poster in it. I'll try to find it's pdf and upload that poster.

 

[Aka123]

Ah the first is a difficult question, so I'll tackle the second first.

Yup, Northern side is in China with 2 established routes; North Ridge and the North-West Face (Not to be confused with the North-West Ridge). The Chinese side of the mountain is the less frequently visited side, and there are usually no climbers on this side of the mountain. Even though it's less technical to get to the northern base camp, its more difficult in the sense that its not very organized; you have to manage everything by yourself. The Pakistani side is more popular because 1) Most of the mountain is in Pakistan, 2) Except 2, all the routes are completely on the Pakistani side, 3) The easiest route is on the Pakistani side, 4) the most climbed route is on the Pakistani side, 5) the trek to get to the Pakistani side is a lot more organized; porters, midway camps, etc., etc. And yes, I've heard that you have to cross Shaksgam to get to the Chinese side. But the lesser frequency also has it's own allure

The North Ridge and the North-West Ridge:

(The North Ridge is the route that Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner climbed up, making her the first woman to climb all the eight-thousanders without oxygen)

Ok, now for the most difficult. Well, it kinda depends on whom you ask about it. The most easy is the Cesen and the most frequently taken is the Abruzzi (But I'm sure you know that these are still one of the most difficult routes in the world. Goes to show the character of K2). The South Face, the South-South-West Pillar (or the so called Magic Line) and the North-West Ridge are all said to be the hardest. The "Magic Line" is the one that Reinhold Messner went to attempt, looked at, called it the suicide route, abandoned it and went up the Abruzzi. This is also the route most widely considered to be the most difficult followed by the South Face.

Abruzzi Spur-> 178 summits and 52 deaths. Fatality rate: 29.2%

Cesen -> 55 summits and 10 deaths. Fatality rate: 18.2

North Ridge (Chinese) -> 28 summits and 6 deaths. Fatality rate: 21.4%

Magic Line -> 4 summits and 6 deaths. Fatality rate: 150%

South Face -> 2 summits and 1 death. Fatality rate: 50%

North-West Face -> 2 summits and 0 deaths. Fatality rate: 0%

North-West Ridge -> 2 summits and 0 deaths. Fatality rate: 0%

Interestingly two routes are still un-climbed:

East Face-> 0 summits and 1 death. Fatality rate: 100%

North Face (North-East)-> 0 summits and 0 deaths.

(Note: These stats, sadly, don't show the failed attempts and they are only till the 2008 climbing season. But the stats for the most difficult faces have remained unchanged to my knowledge)

All the routes:

I have a book with some route details, has a good poster in it. I'll try to find it's pdf and upload that poster.

Thanx for the details man! Heard that this South Face - Polish line is also called the suicidal route. The abzurri spur is easiest and most climbed..... but have heard that near the summit, there's a region of 'Bottleneck' which is deadly.

 

[krash]

Thanx for the details man! Heard that this South Face - Polish line is also called the suicidal route. The abzurri spur is easiest and most climbed..... but have heard that near the summit, there's a region of 'Bottleneck' which is deadly.

You're always welcome. I love talking about mountains and my friends have started to hate it :p

BTW would your info about the South Face, by any chance, be from wiki? Because I've read it and it isn't very accurate. The route map is inaccurate as well. The "Suicide Route" was termed by Reinhold Messner for the South-South-West Pillar and he talks about it in his book "K2: The Mountain of Mountains". And the Cesen is thought to be the easiest because it bypasses the 'House Chimney' and the 'Black Pyramid' on the Abruzzi route, which are both very challenging.

The Bottleneck is indeed very deadly. Its the only way to get to the summit from the shoulder. Its a very narrow shaft, almost perfectly vertical with huge seracs looming on top of it. In short its a nightmare. Quite a lot of people have lost their lives at this spot. In 2008 one of those seracs broke and killed many climbers above and below it. On that fateful day 11 people lost their lives within a few hours of each other. Imagine being radioed about another death every few minutes.

These are the seracs above the Bottleneck (the huge walls of ice jutting out of the mountain face):

Now this is a very interesting clip. It was shot by one of the teams that lost almost all of their climbers on that deadly day in 2008. It was shot while climbing up the 'Bottleneck' at around 8350 meters. The seracs you see right in the beginning broke off a few minutes after this clip was shot. At 00:16 the camera pans around and gives a view of the lower part of the Bottleneck and the Shoulder down below. The scale of the climb can be judged from the fact that you can't even spot Camp 4 on the shoulder. Another awesome thing which you might notice is that at the beginning, when the camera is facing upwards, the sky is completely black even though sunlight is reflecting off the ice, and it only becomes blue when the camera pans downwards towards the horizon.

K2 Bottleneck 8350 meters Mountain Leader - YouTube

*At 00:26 you can see Broad Peak's summit*

 

[Aka123]

You're always welcome. I love talking about mountains and my friends have started to hate it :p

BTW would your info about the South Face, by any chance, be from wiki? Because I've read it and it isn't very accurate. The route map is inaccurate as well. The "Suicide Route" was termed by Reinhold Messner for the South-South-West Pillar and he talks about it in his book "K2: The Mountain of Mountains". And the Cesen is thought to be the easiest because it bypasses the 'House Chimney' and the 'Black Pyramid' on the Abruzzi route, which are both very challenging.

The Bottleneck is indeed very deadly. Its the only way to get to the summit from the shoulder. Its a very narrow shaft, almost perfectly vertical with huge seracs looming on top of it. In short its a nightmare. Quite a lot of people have lost their lives at this spot. In 2008 one of those seracs broke and killed many climbers above and below it. On that fateful day 11 people lost their lives within a few hours of each other. Imagine being radioed about another death every few minutes.

These are the seracs above the Bottleneck (the huge walls of ice jutting out of the mountain face):

Now this is a very interesting clip. It was shot by one of the teams that lost almost all of their climbers on that deadly day in 2008. It was shot while climbing up the 'Bottleneck' at around 8350 meters. The seracs you see right in the beginning broke off a few minutes after this clip was shot. At 00:16 the camera pans around and gives a view of the lower part of the Bottleneck and the Shoulder down below. The scale of the climb can be judged from the fact that you can't even spot Camp 4 on the shoulder. Another awesome thing which you might notice is that at the beginning, when the camera is facing upwards, the sky is completely black even though sunlight is reflecting off the ice, and it only becomes blue when the camera pans downwards towards the horizon.

K2 Bottleneck 8350 meters Mountain Leader - YouTube

*At 00:26 you can see Broad Peak's summit*

Yes!! I had read the wiki, it's mentioned there. Other than that some points which I am saying, I got to know from discussion with friends and rest are net based as well.

bdw I had seen this video earlier........ but this is Abzurri spur climb.... I have searched a proper video of North and South face climb, but didn't find any.

Southern routes shown -

 

[Aka123]

No Doubt Mount Everest is the highest peak but the K2 is far more difficult to climb than Everest because of its shape

Because Karakoram has a much rugged terrain than Himalayas. Also due to the steepness of Karakoram peaks, the weather is very adverse at high altitudes, I guess.

 

[Areesh]

@krash

One question. What about the other three 8 thousand meter peaks other than K2 like Broad Peak, Gasherbrum 1 and Gasherbrum 2? Are they completely on Pakistani side or shared by both Pakistan or China? What is there status? Are they as difficult as K2 to climb?

 

[Audio]

Great pics. I can see why people return to climb even though it's one of the more dangerous things to do with your spare time. Quite a few of Swiss and Slovenian climbers rest in those hills.
Read a book from climb on Everest when i was young (mom & dad are both avid mountaneers, not extreme climbers but trekkers, so they have a bit of literature on the subject), the writer talked about extreme temperaure differences, saying they were sweating in the sun, but a few meters away, in the shade there was -10 C. Found it very fascinating to read.

 

[krash]

@krash

One question. What about the other three 8 thousand meter peaks other than K2 like Broad Peak, Gasherbrum 1 and Gasherbrum 2? Are they completely on Pakistani side or shared by both Pakistan or China? What is there status? Are they as difficult as K2 to climb?

I'll put it this way; the Chinese were gifted routes up to the peaks of K2, Broad Peak, GI and GII. Remember the ceding/gifting of the Shaksgam valley? If you look at the map you'll see the artificial manipulation of the border.

Well nothing is as difficult to climb as K2, everything just beautifully and ingenuously comes together to wreak havoc on the savage one. That said, these peaks are extremely difficult to climb in their own right (They just get overshadowed, because lets face it, they stand besides K2). This you can clearly see from the fact that, even though all the other 8000ers were being successfully climbed during winters for quite a few years, these three peaks only gave in very recently (GII in 2011, GI in 2012 and Broad Peak in 2013). All these three summits were hailed as new milestones in the mountaineering world (I'll post about these summits later, you'll see what hell the teams had to go through to achieve this). Now only the two big ones remain that haven't been climbed in the winter season.

What is interesting though is that the smaller peaks offer more difficult climbing, e.g. Gasherbrum IV (7,925 m), which just narrowly misses out on the 8000m mark, is considered to be the most technical to climb, its even steeper than K2. I mean just look at it:

To me, its the most beautiful mountain in the world.


Then you have Baintha Brakk or the Ogre (7,285 meters). This one is regularly featured on the top 5 most difficult climbs. It took climbers around than two and a half decades to successfully climb it for the second time (1st summit: 1977, 2nd summit: 2001).

 

[Areesh]

^^

True G4 is extremely beautiful peak. I also have read about this Ogre peak. Amazing peaks all these we have in our country.

 

[krash]

Then you have Spantik (7,027 m). At first look you see a saddle going up to the summit, wide and gradual, pretty easy. On closer inspection you see the side facing you and realize that it holds nightmares for the climbers. The North-West face (or the Golden Pillar) of Spantik is termed as one of the most difficult and dangerous climbs in the world; its also a proud member of the infamous Pakistani vertical walls.

I can go on and on and on. I deliberately gave examples of mountains from three different areas with varying heights.

So to summarize no one comes to Pakistan expecting an easy climb, we specialize in the most difficult ones. Even our smaller mountains, whom no one gives a second glance at, turn out to be formidable challenges. Malika Parbat (only 5,290 metres) is a very good example of that. Note that by 'smaller' I mean the mountains relatively smaller to our own. Because the peaks we consider small and unremarkable would be considered huge massifs anywhere else in the world e.g. Malika Parbat stands taller than all the Alps.

 

[Areesh]

Lol the alps are overrated. The highest peak is just 4800 meters. They look so tiny in front of our peaks. Let alone Himalaya and Karakorum even the highest peak of Hindukush range is in Pakistan and even that has elevation of around 7700 meters.

My personal favorite is Uli Biaho tower. Always found this pic to be simply amazing.

 

[krash]

Lol the alps are overrated. The highest peak is just 4800 meters. They look so tiny in front of our peaks. Let alone Himalaya and Karakorum even the highest peak of Hindukush range is in Pakistan and even that has elevation of around 7700 meters.

My personal favorite is Uli Biaho tower. Always found this pic to be simply amazing.

Yeah the Tirich Mir. It's not just the Alps, the Rockies aren't very tall either. The highest mountain outside the greater Himalayas (Karakorum, Himalayas and the Hindukush) is Mount Aconcagua in Patagonia (The Andes) and its only 6,800 meters high.


Anyway, I must apologize for this bandwidth limit. Once the month is over and the pictures are back I'll start spreading them over two, three accounts.

ps: always loved that pic too.

 

[Areesh]

All these Alps and Rockies look kids playground in front of our peaks.