| Shared Summits Team tops out on “The Savage Mountain” (Karakoram Range, Pakistan: 4:36 pm local time |
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Marylander Chris Warner and teammates Don Bowie of California and Bruce Normand of Scotland reached the summit of K2, the world’s second highest mountain and arguably the hardest one to climb. After seven weeks on “The Savage Mountain” and several earlier failed attempts at reaching her peak, the climbers captured her crown in a grueling assault that took 15 hours to ascend from Camp 4 to the summit at 8,611 meters (28,253 feet). In addition to the punishing winds and sheer exposed faces, the climbers found themselves often breaking trail in waist, and sometimes shoulder, deep snow. Fortunately, in the days leading up to the final summit push, team members from seven countries began working together from Base Camp on up, sharing information and strategies. Over the last three days these members melded their efforts and by 5:00 pm local time twelve expedition members from Russia, Italy, Iran, Portugal, The Czech Republic and Korea joined the Americans to create a unified, multinational team forging through the conditions and summiting within two hours of one another. With every successful summit step, cheers and applause could be heard in team tents throughout the Base Camp Strip.
(Courtesy Czech BP/K2 Website) |
