Austrian woman scales K-2 without Oxygen

K-2, or the Mt Godwin Austen or simply Chogori in local Baltit language, is the world second highest mountain after the Everest, located in Pakistan.  This 8,611 meters (28,251 feet) high mountain is also known as the Savage Mountain as it is more dangerous to attempt than the Everest and only those who dare can attempt it. K-2 was first attempted by an Italian expedition in 1954 and since then has been centre of attractions of serious and adventure loving mountaineers.

Recently, K2 was attempted by an Austrian woman – who dared it without Oxygen cylinder and stood atop the savage mountain, happy, smiling and proud of her feat on August 23, 2011 at 6:20 PM (local time). Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has reason to be happy as she is the first woman ever to have accomplished this unique honour. Not only this, she also becomes the first woman to have conquered all 14 eight thousanders without artificial oxygen.

K-2 has not been new to Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner as she has already attempted it six times. She was accompanied on her way to the top by the Kazakh climbers Maxut Zumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov, and Darek Zaluski of Poland.The team attempted K-2 from the Chinese north side for the first time. Previously, Kaltenbrunner had scaled K2 from the Pakistani side.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner  would badly miss her friend and fellow-climber Fredrik Ericsson from Sweden who died while attempting K-2 in August 2010.

Kaltenbrunner is a trained nurse who started climbing in her youth. She lives in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg with her husband.

Related:

K-2 – Chogori - Mt Godwin Austen (Pakistanpaedia)

Eight Thousanders of Pakistan (Jaho Jalal)

Deathly skiing on savage mountain – K2 (Hobby Shobbys)

Originally posted as Woman climber dares K-2 without Oxygen (Jaho Jalal)

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Adventurous Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers scale some of the highest peaks in the world in pictures by photographer Jimmy Chin

Here's a photographer who will go to great heights in his search for the ultimate picture. Jimmy Chin, probably the world's greatest adventure photographer, has travelled the world with highly-skilled mountain climbers, scaling huge peaks and even skiing down the face of Mount Everest

Conrad Anker reaches for his next gear placement, 2,500 feet off the ground on the Pacific Ocean Wall of El Capitain, Yosemite National Park, California

Jimmy has built up a portfolio that documents his work in some of the most inaccessible and extreme situations imaginable. Jimmy is the go-to man for adventurers and publications such as National Geographic and Outside Magazine

Yuji Hirayama climbs in Turkey in April 2009

His travels have taken him to the tallest freestanding sandstone towers in the world, the Hand of Fatima in Mali, to the highest sheer cliff face on the globe. "The climbs up the Hand of Fatima which is 2,000 feet and Naga Parbat which is just over 15,000 feet were spectacular," said Jimmy. "The Hand of Fatima and the Kaga Tondo in Mali, is a personal favourite of mine. That shot sums up the bravery and tremendous ability of these climbers, who allowed me to join them and to experience the same dangers that they face"

Cedar Wright and Kevin Thaw climb the south buttress of Kaga Tondo on the Hand of Fatima in Mali on December 20, 2002. Click here to see a larger version of this image

To work with Steph Davis as she became the first woman to free climb El Capitan's Salathe Wall in Yosemite, was an honour and a privilege. "I am always concerned with finding the right spot and the right shot, so sometimes I forget to appreciate the skill of my fellow adventurers, but I am aware of how my life has been changed by my ability with a camera"

Steph Davis free climbs the Salathe Wall of El Capitain in Yosemite National Park, California, on November 4, 2005. Steph is the first and only woman to free climb the Salathe

Steph Davis leading the crux "Boulder Pitch" on the Salathe Headwall in Yosemite National Parkon November 4, 2005

Of all his adventures though, his ascents of Everest stand out as his most physically demanding and rewarding. "You do wonder - when you are at 28,000 feet, the height that aeroplanes cruise at, when you are struggling to draw breath and every limb aches - why do I do this?"

Kit and Rob DesLauriers with Dave Hahn on the South Summit of Mount Everest on October 4, 2006

"But of course once you reach the summit and realise that there is nowhere you could stand taller on earth, that's why I do it. On my 2006 expedition to Everest me, Kit and Rob DesLauries decided to speed up our descent of the mountain by skiing down its south east ridge. To say that was fun and frivolous is a bit of an understatement"

Kit DesLauriers hiking through the Khumbu Icefall of Mount Everest on September 18, 2006

Pushing himself hard in training between jaunts, Jimmy's life is a constant whirl of planning, travel and photography. "I lose anywhere up to 20 pounds on location with adventurers like Conrad Anker or Brady Robinson," said Jimmy. "So I need to replace that lost weight and muscle by training hard when I am back in the States between jobs. And as I get older it is far more important for me to be doing this and taking my conditioning seriously"

Jimmy Chin climbing the Pacific Ocean Wall in Yosemite Park, California

Jimmy Chin on Mt. Kinabalu, a World Heritage Site in Borneo, on April 25, 2009

Granite towers reflected in a pool on the Karakoram Mountains in Charakusa Valley, Pakistan. This image was taken on August 10, 1999 during Jimmy's first major climbing expedition

Dean Potter, one of the greatest high line walkers in the world, walks on a one-inch thick piece of webbing over a 500 foot deep chasm at Canyonlands National Park in Indian Creek, Utah, in January 2007

Kasha Rigby, Giulia Monego and Ingrid Backstrom approach Redommaine peak before their first ski descent in October 2009 during the Shangri La Expedition, in the Himalayas

Kasha Rigby climbing Redommaine peak before the first ski descent in October 2009, during the Shangri La Expedition in the Himalayas

Conrad Anker traverses an alpine ridge deep in the Waddington Range on Mount Combatant, Coastal Range in British Columbia, Canada

Renan Ozturk on Mount Meru in Garwahl Himalaya, India, on September 14, 2009

Jimmy Chin climbs Mount Meru in Garwahl Himalaya, India

Pictures from the peak of perfection: The man who climbs mountains in search of the ultimate photo

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 6:24 PM on 6th May 2011

For most of us, hauling yourself up some of the Earth's highest peaks would be enough to keep us occupied.

But for one mountaineer, the exertion he goes through to scale the heights is just a means to capturing some of the most stunning images of nature's peaks.

Robert Bosch, 57, has climbed to the summit of Everest, the icy Alps of Europe and even to the frozen desert wastes of Antarctica in pursuit of adventure and the perfect snap.

Clinging on: Climber Pesche Wuthrich swings for another handhold in the Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland

Perilous: This image shows Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck ice-climbing near Pontresina, Switzerland

Balancing act: Two climbers perch on top of Salbitnadel in Uri, Switzerland, in another of Mr Bosch's stunning images

Perspective: Mr Bosch has spent nearly 40 years climbing the Earth's highest peaks to get his images

Perspective: Mr Bosch has spent nearly 40 years climbing the Earth's highest peaks to get his images

Working with some of the greats of European mountaineering, Mr Bosch's vertigo-inducing photography portrays the loneliness and grit that all climbers need to conquer the world's highest peaks.

He said: 'Climbing Mount Everest is relatively straightforward for an experienced climber.

'I had previously attempted to ascend the notoriously difficult west ridge route but that had defeated me.

'So in 2001 I succeeded climbing the north face, but I must tell you that to climb Everest up the commercially popular route is easy.

'Everyone travels to the top and thinks they can write a book about it, but the majority of these people are not mountaineers, they are relying ont he incredible work of the Sherpas of Nepal.'

Give me a leg up: Climbers half way up the artificial wall on the Diga di Luzzone in Tessin

Staying cool: Ueli Steck ice axes in hand as he climbs near Oeschinen in Bern, Switzerland

Don't look down: Annatina Schultz makes her way up The Fall on Klettern in Meringen, Switzerland

Eyes on the prize: Mr Bosch stands suspended at a 90 degree angle on the artificial wall in Tessin, Switzerland

Photographing the greats of the climbing world, including 34-year-old Ueli Steck, Mr Bosch has witnessed the skill needed in perilous climbs.

He said: 'Ueli is a wonderful climber, an exceptional mountaineer, we climb a lot together looking for that perfect shot that sums up the strength and balance and fitness that climbers need.

'His free climbing abilities are what most impresses me, he is a good friend and it is a pleasure to work with him.'

As an experienced climber, Mr Bosch - who lives near Zurich in Switzerland - has scaled more than 100 different peaks across the world.

He considered Cerro Torre in Argentina one of the hardest ascents, despite its relative unknown status.

Nearly there: This close up was taken near the summit of the wall as Mr Bosch was suspended over the drop

Bleak: The photographer counts Cerro Torre, in Patagonia, Argentina, as one of the toughest to climb

Scaling new heights: This image shows ice-climbing on the Godwin Austen Glacier in Pakistan with K2 in the background

Mr Bosch said: 'My passion was born when my parents would take me to visit the Alps when I was a boy.

'My main concern was climbing, but another interest of mine had always been photography and in my mid twenties I began to take pictures during my ascents and by the time I was 30 I had launched my own business concentrating on my climbing.

'I was working in the Swiss Alps on my photography, hanging from a rope and using my crampons digging into the rock face to balance myself.

'Unfortunately I had a momentary lapse of balance and I turned 180 degress upside down to face a sheer 3,000ft drop.

'My heart skipped and luckily for me my rope held and I managed to right myself, but that incident haunts me every day because I came so close to falling down head first.'

Source: Funzug

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20 hidden peaks of the Karakoram

Karakoram mountain range in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan is one of the most important ranges in the world as it has four peaks above 8,000 meters, including K2, the second highest peak of the world (8,611 m/28,251 ft), besides many dozens above 6,000 M above mean sea level. The mountain range also borders the Ladakh region of India and Xinjiang of China.

The range is about 500 km (311 miles) in length, and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 70 km and the Biafo Glacier at 63 km rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers outside the polar regions.

The range has always been one of the most liked mountain range among the mountaineers and trekkers from around the world as its scenery is unmatched, its lakes fascinating and its surrounding simply awesome.

I have shared many facets of the Karakoram in my previous posts. In this post, I am sharing the breathtaking photography by Rizwan Saddique, who besides being an avid mountaineer and trekker, is also an excellent photographer. His pictorial collection of the Karakoram is not only awe inspiring but also a good learning for the novice and armature photographers like me.

It may be appreciated that most of the following peaks are generally not talked about nor photographed. It goes to Rizwan's credit to have captured these hitherto fore un-photographed peaks of the Karakoram mountain range for our delight for which he really deserves our appreciation.

Hisper Pass

Yukshin Garden 7530m (Right) Kanjut Sar 7760m(Left)

 Marble Peak 6256m

Shishpar Sar 7611m

Yazghil Dome 7440m

Pumari Chhish 7492m

Miar Peak 6824m

Distaghil Sar 7885m

Dongbar Peak 6076m

Kunyang Chhish 7852m (Right)Pumari Chhish 7492m(left)

Mango Gusar 6875m

Distalghil Sar 7885m

White Horn 6303m

Kunyang Chhish 7852m

 Diran 7257m

Kanjut sar 7760m

Tupopdan 6106m

Rush Peak 5,098 m.

 Baintha Brakk 7,285 m (Ogre)

Gurpi Sar and Saruchit Sar Peaks

Related:

Gondogora La and mighty peaks of Karakoram

Eight thousanders of Pakistan

First ever winter ascent of Gasherbrum-II

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Spectacular virgin lakes of Pakistan

Whenever we write a post, we always try to mention the best of the best as the names of the very best are known to a majority and thus attract lot of visitors. But I am writing this post to introduce some unfamiliar names, which after reading the post may become best of the best one day or someday for someone or everyone.

Pakistan is naturally gifted country. Its northern areas are rich in natural and scenic beauty, which are unparalleled and unmatchable. These natural treasures are hidden far beyond and behind majestic snow covered mountains rising more than 10,000 feet. Only those who have flare for danger laden adventure can reach these destinations.

One of my Flickr friends Asif Saeed, barely 28 years, is one such person who has not only reached these beautiful places, but has also captured the blue icy waters of some of the spectacular scenic and virgin lakes that a few have attempted before. 

These lakes, perched in quietness and stillness of time since ages, have now been explored and courtesy people like Asif, we have a chance to dream of places that have never been visited before or very seldom visited by adventurers. I hope by watching the photographs below, many who love nature in its pure form will plan to come to these remote areas of Pakistan and enjoy that great feeling amid towering snow clad mountains on the shores of some of most awesome virgin lakes of the world.

Ansoo and Sat Sri Mala Lakes

"Ansoo" and "Sat Sri Mala" lakes were discovered just two years back. These lakes are located at far off deserted and extremely difficult areas that can become dangerous if one is not fully equipped and require proper guidance and planning as there are no lodging facilities available. Camping is the only solution, but it is so windy and ice cold out there that one has to be really prepared to camp.

Ansoo Lake is in shape of eye and most of its water is frozen but a portion of it looks like "tear" from far off place. Ansoo means tear so that’s why this lake has been named as Ansoo lake.

Located at an altitude of 16,492 feet in the Kaghan Valley near the Malika Parbat mountain of the Himalayan mountain range and some 12 hours difficult and treacherous trek from the famous Saif ul Mulook Lake, itself located at 12,000 feet. The trek from Saif ul Mulook Lake is generally snow covered for most part of the year and can be accessed from mid-July to mid-August only. Although one can hire horses, but almost one third of the trek has to be footed anyway.

  

Sat Sri Mala Lake

Another lake about which I came to know is "Sat Sri Mala". These are seven different lakes in steps. Water from each lake falls in the next one so that’s why named it Sat Sri Mala. "Sat" means seven and “Sri” means head in local language.

Rama Lake

Rama Lake is located on top of beautiful Astore Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The Rama is situated in Choungrah Valley. It takes half hour to reach the Rama. Rama Valley is thickly forested with huge pine, cedar, fir and juniper trees. 

Trek to Rama Lake

The valley is about 3300 meters (10,800 feet) above sea level and thus is snow covered for 7-8 months of the year. In summer, it becomes lush green. From here one can trek to east side of the Nanga Parbat (also known as the Killer Mountain), the world's 8th highest mountain.

Gitidas Lake

Gitidas Lake is yet another beautiful lake located near the famous Lulusar Lake which in itself is the biggest natural lake in scenic Hazara. Lulusar Lake feeds roaring Kunhar river which is its main source. One comes across magnificent view of the lake through a jeep trek on the banks of the lake that takes you to Babu Sar Pass. The journey is full of excitement.

Saral Lake

Saral Lake is usually referred as the Hidden Pearl of Kashmir. Crossing the Saral Pass at a meager height of 13,600ft and descending into a valley guarded by high passes lies hidden dream like Saral Lake of unsurpassed beauty. 

This lake can be accessed from Kaghan valley and Neelum valley. One can take the trek from Besal in Kaghan valley and camp at Dodipatsar Lake for overnight stay. Resuming the journey next morning, one journeys into Neelum valley to reach Saral Lake. From here one can trek to Neelum Valley or to Kaghan Valley via Nurinar river following jeep road to Jalghad. From Saral Lake one may explore yet another beautiful Ratigali Lake.

Dodipatsar Lake

Dodi Pat Sar is located ahead of Naran and Jalkand near Basal Camp which is at an altitude of 10,000 feet. The lake and surrounding area has been declared as National Wild Life Park. One can conveniently reach Basal Camp but from hence forward, there is a continuous trekking of about 5 hours, on average, to Dodi Pat Sar base camp. From the base camp still a breathtaking journey of about an hour takes you to the legendary Dodi Pat Sar which is at a height of 15,000 feet above sea level.

In the local language Dodi means milky, Pat mean water and Sar mean lake. So Dodi Pat Sar means “The Lake of Milky Water”. This splendid lake resides in the lap of the snow covered mountain peak. The snowy mountain peak sheds its reflection in the lake giving an impact of milk contained in a lake, which makes up its name. In ancient times this place was known as “Purbi Narh”. Purbi was an aboriginal tribe living in the vicinity of this lake and Narh, in local language, means the water passage moving down the mountain peak.

Chitta Khatta Lake

Kashmir is blessed area from nature and well known for the its virgin beauty Chitta Khatta Lake is the diamond of Neelam Valley's crown, Chitta Khatta lake is located at an altitude of 14,000 feet above sea level in upper Neelam Valley of Azad Kashmir , Pakistan. The main highlight of the lake is its extra ordinary milky white colour of water from where lake's name was derived, Chitta (white), other than the fact that this beautiful lake was visited seldom and it was not known a few years from now. It also has no visible outlet (just like Kutwal Lake and Sheoshar Lake).

For this trek one has to reach Kel in Neelam valley, which is a day’s travelling from Muzaffarabad, in the Kel. Jeeps are available for the upper Domel Village besides Shountar Nalah and the jeep trek starts from Kel, where Shounter Nalah falls into Neelam River.

The trek of lake starts from Chitta Khatta Village, located at 8,000 feet, which is located about one km before Upper Domel village. Chitta Khatta village and Neelam Village are two small villages across the Shountar Nalah on the right (these are very obvious, one cannot miss them). Another indication is the Chitta Khatta Nala that falls rather sharply adjacent to the Chitta Khatta village. From the road one has to descend first to reach the Shountar Nala. This descend is not more than 100 feet. From here one has to cross the Shountar Nala through a wooden bridge and then continue parallel to the Chitta Khatta Nalah crossing Chammar Fall and onto the Lake.

Kutwal Lake - Haramosh Valley

Kutwal Lake is yet another breathtaking and awe inspiring lake of the Haramosh Valley. One can reach Haramosh Valley both from Skardu and Gilgit. From Skardu one has to go to to Sassi from the where the trek to Kutwal starts. But it is better to start from Gilgit as Sassi is just an hour drive from Gilgit. Jeeps can take you till village Dassu. 

After Dassu its all trekking up to lake. It takes about 6-9 hours from Dassu to Kutwal village and yet another 5 hourse up to the lake. Therefore one has to plan for at least three days round trip with appropriate gear, tentage and eatables.

Attributions:
All photos are courtesy Asif Saeed (Flickr)
Trek map of Haramosh Valley courtesy Junaid Khan
Video courtesy YouTube

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