After 9 weeks, 3 routes, 5 attempts, 15 ½ hours (after leaving Camp 4), Chris, Don and Bruce make the Summit of K2 (28,253 feet / 8,611 meters) at 7:36 am EDT Friday, July 20, 2007!
In part one of video from summit day, the Team pushes through the "bottleneck" in the pre-dawn gloom and moves up onto the "traverse" in the early morning sunlight. Amazing views reveal the challenges of these two most difficult and technical sections of K2, The Savage Mountain. Footage from July 20, 2007.
The climbers gain the "shoulder", arriving at Camp 4. While at Camp 4 they will rest and hydrate in preparation for the long waited final leg of the summit push starting just after midnight. Stay tuned for amazing footage of the fabled "bottleneck" and the harrowing 70-80 degree "traverse" as the Shared Summits Team pushes towards the summit of K2, the Savage Mountain.
The Shared Summits Team departs Camp 3.5 with full packs and hopes that other teams will catch up to help break trail to Camp 4 and beyond. Video from the morning of Wednesday, July 18, 2007.
Climbing from C2-C3 - the windiest, weatheriest day of the summit push - towards the end of the day, the sun starts shining and the weather window begins to open on what our climbers all secretly know will be their last shot at topping out this season.
Climbing from C2-C3 - the windiest, weatheriest day of the summit push - towards the end of the day, the sun starts shining and the weather window begins to open on what our climbers all secretly know will be their last shot at topping out this season.
The Team climbs from Camp 1 to Camp 2 in horrendous weather during the summit push. They climbed the lower Abruzzi Ridge in bad weather with the goal of positioning themselves for a weather window later in the week. Footage from July 16 and 17, 2008.
6/25/07: The Abruzzi Spur (a.k.a. The SE Ridge) is the Shared Summit Team's new goal! Healthy and acclimatized, they are in position to summit as early as this Thursday!
