Rarely do climbers enter mainstream consciousness until there is a fatal accident. The release and controversial success of John Krakauer's Into Thin Air, an account of one mean season at Mt. Everest, reinvigorated the climbing disaster genre - publishers now have another mountain tragedy to consider:"K2 [has] claimed 11 lives, the worst single tragedy in climbing history on the mountain and one of the worst disasters in mountaineering history" - IHT, 5 August 2008.
Final survivor descends K2 - IHT, 5 August 2008.
K2 survivor: Companions all dead - BBC, 5 August 2008.
Friends and clients of Ski Himalaya will remember that Gulmarg '07/08 alumnus Dave Watson is part of the K2 Tall Mountain Expedition that is currently scaling the mountain. Initial reports of the accident this weekend made no mention of Watson or his crew, and until today the expedition blog gave no indication of its status. Happily, this post states the team has moved its base camp (meaning the team is below the "death zone" and the "Bottleneck"), and that Dave is engaged in "putting up fixed rope", presumably as part of rescue support. Dave had originally had planned to attempt the first ski descent of K2 via the West Ridge after summiting. No word as yet if the team will continue for the peak, or if Dave will attempt his descent. Best wishes to everyone at K2, their family and friends.
UPDATE: Chaos, death: World's most dangerous mountain - IHT, 6 August 2008.UPDATE: State climbers OK on K2 - NT, 11 August 2008.
UPDATE: Was the K2 Accident Inevitable? - Outside, 11 August 2008.
UPDATE: Americans still hoping to launch summit push - K2C, 12 August 2008.
VIDEO: How A K2 Mountain Climb Turned Tragic - 6 July 2008.
