There they were, standing on the summit, with the setting sun at their back the pyramidal shadow of the K2 reached for miles to the east. As the beautiful golden light began to burnish the world, the impossible had been achieved – after more than three decades of attempts, there had finally been a winter summit on the Savage Mountain. The group of men from Nepal, who shared struggle, desperation and comradeship throughout the expedition, stood together as a “band of brothers”. In the sundown hour as the great world around them transfigured in golden light the non-quadrilateral flag of Nepal symbolising the Himalayan mountains fluttered in the glacial wind, its crimson colour representing the spirit that had kept them going throughout the journey.

The K2 peak close to Pakistan’s border with China is the crowning glory every mountaineer wants to reach. It was after the third American expedition of the K2 in 1953 outfitted by Eddie Bauer, that climber George Bell uttered the famous words, “K2 is a savage mountain that tries to kill you”, while talking to reporters about their unsuccessful expedition. This nickname, the Savage Mountain, remains popular within the mountaineering community to this day. In the summer of 1954, a year after Sherpa Tensing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary summited Mount Everest, an Italian Karakoram expedition was successful in reaching the summit of K2. From 1950 to 1964, all 14 of the world’s mountains above 8,000 metres (26,247 feet) were climbed for the first time: The French got Annapurna and Makalu, the Italians K2, and the British Kanchenjunga.

In more than 117 years of expeditions to the K2 which began from 1902 till the June of 2020 only 367 mountaineers have ever reached the summit and lived to talk about it, unlike Mount Everest which has been summited 5,790 times. Of all of the 14 peaks above 8,000 metres (8,000ers), K2 has the second highest fatality rate which is next to the Annapurna massif in Nepal. Nearly one person out of four (and to another estimate six) who try to reach the summit die in the attempt. By comparison, on Mount Everest, the ratio is about one to 34. The 8,000ers are the only mountains in the world that tower into an area that is famously known to mountaineers as the death zone, where the amount of oxygen in the air is insufficient to sustain human life.

K2 has long been considered the toughest climb especially in winter. It’s steeper, more technical and deadlier than any other 8,000er peak. In the winter of 1987-88, 13 Polish climbers, seven Canadians, and four British tried to reach the K2 summit for the very first time in winter. After three months of unsuccessful attempts the expedition had to be called off. The following three decades saw another five failed winter expeditions by other teams.

With temperatures dipping down to -65 degrees Celsius during winters, the mountain is considered too cold for a winter summit. Another reason is the strong winds that pose an imminent threat to climbers. It is observed that during winters the Karakoram range, where K2 is located, experiences a stronger jet stream than the Himalayas, blowing off the snow and increasing the risk of avalanches. With a steeper terrain with bare rock and brittle ice to navigate, mountaineers require advanced mountaineering skills in both rock and ice climbing on the K2. This makes the climb painstakingly slow hence exposing the mountaineers to the elements for longer. “The Mountaineer’s Mountain” remained the last great challenge that had to be overcome.

Given the amount of risk attached to a K2 winter expedition, one has to have the right team to undertake the arduous journey. The 10 summiting team members, originally from three expedition teams from Nepal, were led by Nirmal Purja Magar and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. Others in the team were Gelje Sherpa, Mingma David Sherpa, Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, Dawa Temba Sherpa, Pem Chhiri Sherpa, Kilu Pemba Sherpa, Dawa Tenjing Sherpa and Sona Sherpa. While most first summits have a name attached to the feat, this group credited the team, rather than an individual, with the first-ever winter ascent. The sport was an expression of national strength among Western European nations till the mid-20th century. Polish, Russian, and Italian climbers have dominated winter attempts on all the other 8,000-metre peaks. So this all-Nepalese team was out there to make a statement for all indigenous mountaineers of the region. Climbing and guiding in the high Himalayas, Nepalis in general and the ethnic Sherpa in particular, have spent their careers, as hired help, helping others live their adventures on the big mountains of the world.

These indeed are times of crucial change for the Sherpa culture, and in particular for the subculture of the Sherpa climbing community. Since 1907, when Sherpas were first hired to carry the load for an expedition, Sherpa culture has arguably been more influenced by the Western passion for mountaineering than by any other single force.

“Sherpas have no choice but to work and earn a living trail breaking and setting up lines for mountaineers,” says Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the leader of the Nepalis K2 winter expedition, while waiting for his brother Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and others to safely return to the K2 camp. They come from a line of Sherpas who have guided and carried supplies for many expedition parties in Nepal. Their father had lost his fingers to frostbite after tying the laces of his client’s boots on Everest. “We have been born in the mountains and have no choice but to earn from the mountains. Many amongst us won’t allow their children and brothers to work as Sherpas in the mountain due to the high risk involved but at the end of the day, what choice do we have?” he says. The Sherpa community has benefited from the commercialisation of Everest but by keeping up with the demand many Sherpas have faced casualties in those mountains.

With temperatures dipping down to -65 degrees Celsius during winters, the mountain is considered too cold for a winter summit. Another reason is the strong winds that pose an imminent threat to climbers.

Coming from a military background and having served the British special forces, Nirmal Purja Magar (Nimsdai), not a Sherpa, but an accomplished mountaineer came to the K2 base camp with his six-member team which included five Sherpas including Geljen Sherpa, who became part of Team Nimsdai after climbing several peaks with him in his record attempt of doing all 14 8,000ers in six months and six days. The previous record was nearly eight years – set by a South Korean, Kim Chang-ho. Mingma David Sherpa, also part of Team Nimsdai, is remembered as the Sherpa who rescued 52 climbers from the slopes of Everest in a single season in 2016.

“We united to make the impossible possible. Let’s talk about unselfishness and making the greatest feat in the name of everyone because everyone deserves equal credit,” says a beaming Nimsdai while talking about the achievement. All team members credit the successful summit push to him for keeping up the spirits of the team when everyone else thought of abandoning the expedition. “He treated his expedition as a military mission,” recalls Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. “On the day of the summit push my body became numb, I wanted to abandon the expedition. Others had made up their minds to quit too but Nimsdai urged them all to continue”.

“We all had that common pride, a common goal,” Nimsdai says. “This was for Nepal.”

This was probably the largest concentration of climbers, witnessed during a winter season at K2 base camp. A commercial group of more than 50 people waited in the wing for a weather window to make their summit push. These included world renowned mountaineers, Tamara Lunger, Jon Sonri, Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Colin O’Brady. Previously, the greatest number of climbers to attempt the K2 was 80 in the summer but in the summer of 2019 no less than 200 permits were issued.

Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Sajid Sadpara, the father-son duo from Pakistan, along with their team member Jon Sonri from Iceland have already attempted a summit push during the season but had to retreat to the base camp due to harsh weather. These mountains test the limits of a mountaineer and they have to be aware of these risks and mitigation of the risks. Professional mountaineers know that one simply cannot fight the forces of nature. The most important thing they train for is knowing when to throw the towel in and go back. Narrating this expedition as the most significant journey of his life, Jon Sonri wrote before attempting his first summit push on January 24 that he and his team members were anxious but ready to ascend the Savage Mountain.

Had the mountain been more welcoming towards them like it was to the Nepali team, the expedition team would have reached the summit on Monday, January 25 at 9am. K2 is not a malevolent being, it is indifferent to suffering but it isn’t cruel. Its environment is hostile but it isn’t angry. The only lesson a mountaineer can learn from the mountain is to listen to it when it speaks, patiently wait for the proverbial sign from the heavens - feel the mood of the mountain rather than rush to the summit. K2 is not about rushing, it’s like an old King who commands respect and keeps reminding mountaineers about that. While the Nepalis Sherpa team were pushing for the summit, weathered Spanish climber Sergi Mingote from the SST international winter expedition team, slipped into a crevice while returning to the base camp after a successful acclimation rotation. He was recovered by the experienced Nepalis Sherpas stationed below but died later from his injuries.

Sajid Sadpara plans to attempt the summit without supplemental oxygen just like Nimsdai. Though he is confident that under the guidance of his father he will be able to navigate the mountain without supplemental oxygen, he will still take a bottle of oxygen as a precaution. High-altitude pulmonary edema is the biggest threat on all 14 8,000ers. When pulmonary edema is ignored, breathing becomes harder and blood and fluid might leak into the brain, an often-fatal condition known as cerebral edema.

8,000, for most people is a perfectly seamless and innocent number but for mountaineers it’s a number that shapes their lives forever. Yet, despite the hazardous and objective danger of the tallest mountains, every year hordes of mountaineers flock these areas to try to reach these summits. Professional mountaineers find this kind of environment intoxicating, it’s the kind of fuel that stokes their fire, a test to be taken by those who believe they have what it takes to reach the summit. The chance to truly test one’s limits and do what so few have done before. Surely, a calling for some, almost a religion for others.

Khan Shehram Eusufzye is a freelance contributor based in Lahore. Tanveer Ahmed is a journalist working in Gilgit Baltistan