The Shared Summits K2 Expedition
Why Climb K2?
K2, at 28,253 feet (8611 meters), is the second highest mountain in the
world and is thought to be the ultimate mountaineering achievement. A
truly awe-inspiring sight, its giant pyramid-shaped peak rises for over
two vertical miles above the surrounding glaciers. Knife edged ridges
and impenetrable cliff faces make the mountain seem unclimbable. Upon
these slopes, epic adventures have been playing out since 1902. The
stories of sacrifice and teamwork, jealousies and hubris, suffering and
triumph, add to the lure of the peak.
Every year a handful of the world's
best mountaineers approach the remote base camp, anxious about the
challenges that lay above. They come to test themselves upon this
iconic mountain, knowing the odds are stacked against them, but hoping
that they will be rewarded with a shot at the summit.
The Savage Mountain
K2 has earned its nickname: "The Savage Mountain." All of the books
chronicling K2 expeditions focus on the risks, resulting tragedies, and
the heroism demonstrated by the climbers. The movies (K2 and Vertical
Limit), documentaries (Women of K2)
and countless articles about the peak all paint a portrait of extremes.
K2, the world's second tallest peak, easily eclipses Everest as the
hardest mountain in the world. While the crowded slopes of Everest
expose human weaknesses, which have been so well chronicled in the
media, the supra-human challenges of K2 often yield tales of teamwork
and self-sacrifice. The savageness of K2 brings out the nobility of
man.
K2: the Last Great Challenges
While ascending K2 by any route is a major undertaking, the greatest
challenges in mountaineering can be found on the unclimbed faces of the
world's hardest peaks. K2 historians point to a handful of "last
challenges": among them, the East Face. Expedition Leader Chris Warner
has attempted K2 twice before, during seasons when not a single climber
summited. His experiences on K2 have lead to a few critical
observations: the bad weather comes from the West, slams into the upper
mountain, with high winds which then whip across the North and South
faces. While climbers are pinned down even on "calm days" on these
routes, and the snow dangerously "slabs" up, the East Face can still be
climbable. Late season (mid July to late August) snowfalls tend to
bring the biggest accumulations, and this snow rarely settles. In
addition, in recent years (as well in the 80s) June has had the most
stable weather. In fact, global climate change has resulted in K2
becoming more dangerous during the "peak climbing" season of late July
and August. The plan is to depart the US in mid-May and launch an early
season attempt on the prominent buttress that ascends the East Face.
If successful, an ascent of this route will mark only the 9th
time that an American team has summited any of the fourteen 8000 meter
peaks by a new route, despite nearly 80 years of Himalayan climbing
history. Many of today's most successful climbers have settled into a
race to summit them all by their easiest routes.
The Climbing Style
K2 requires the team to acclimatize while preparing the route. The East
Buttress ascends from 18,000 feet to 24,000 feet with numerous ice
cliffs and towers (seracs) blocking the way. The route is accessed by
crossing a complex glacier system and ascending snow slopes to a rocky
spur. Above this, rock and ice climbing techniques will be needed to
reach the ridge crest. Camp 1 would be located at 20,000 feet, in a
sheltered section of the ridge. The challenges above this section will
focus on climbing in and around the seracs that slice across the
buttress' crest. Camp 2 will be placed at 23,000 feet. Due to the
dangers and technical challenges of the buttress, this part of the
route will be fixed with ropes (approx 5000 feet). Once the route is
established to the upper glacier, the summit bid is on. Departing Camp
2 at 2 a.m. with the sun rising at 4 a.m., the team will follow the
ropes to the glacier and then strike out for Camp 3 (25,000 feet). Camp
4 will be placed at 26,400 feet, on the "Shoulder" where they intersect
the Abruzzi Route (original ascent route). Summit day takes the
climbers into the famed Bottleneck (scene of many disasters), across
the 55-degree Traverse pitches and up the final ridge to the summit.
The team will fix 800 feet of rope on summit day to safeguard the
descent and facilitate the filming.
Employing this style on K2 seems to be the best compromise between
safety and purity. K2 has never been ascended in pure alpine style (one
push from bottom to top) for a reason: the mountain is very big and
very dangerous, with prolonged periods of good weather unheard of. K2's
boldest climbers pioneering the boldest routes, from Kukuczka to Beghin
and Profit, have all employed the style our team is intending to use.
Eight of K2's other routes were established by massive siege-style
expeditions. If the East Buttress proves unclimbable, the team will
shift its attention to the East Rib, a beautiful, unclimbed and
technically challenging route rising above advanced base camp.
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new video/Interviews 
nEW iMAGES
Blog
TV show nominated for Emmy
March 18, 2008
The Shared Summits K2 Expedition show has just been nominated for an Emmy! [ More ]
Live Presentation Dates Now Posted
Feb 19, 2008
Expedition Leader Chris Warner will be recapping the ascent, plus the
very interesting story of the descent, during multiple live local
presentations. [ More ]
NBC Sports TV Re-Broadcast
 NBC will be re-airing the K2 show, as a stand alone hour of Jeep World of Adventure Sports on Sunday, Feb. 17th, at 2:30pm EST. [ More ]
Shared Summits on NBC
Sunday, Dec. 16th at 2pm EST on NBC's Jeep World of Adventure Sports. [ More ]
Video Dispatch 51: Summit Day Part 2
Aug 28, 2007
After 9 weeks, 3 routes, 5 attempts, 15 ½ hours
(after leaving Camp 4), Chris, Don and Bruce make the Summit
... [ More ]
Video Dispatch 50: Summit Day Part 1
Aug 27, 2007
In part one of video from summit day, the Team pushes
through the "bottleneck"... [ more ]
Video Dispatch 49: Camp 3.5 to 4
Aug 25, 2007
The climbers gain the "shoulder", arriving at Camp 4. [ More ]
Dispatch 36: PRess Release
NEW: Wall Papers (1024x768)
more sizes coming soon
 
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NBC Sports K2 TV Special DVD NOW SHIPPING
