Exclusive | Heroic Polish climbers announce second winter attempt on K2 for 2019-20 with a new team and tactics
The Poles have learned a lot from their dramatic first attempt to climb the ‘Savage Mountain’ and will apply all their knowledge to the next expedition
A heroic band of Polish mountaineers on Monday decided to launch a second attempt to climb K2 in winter, Michał Leksinski told the SCMP .
The second expedition would take place in the winter of 2019-20, said Leksinski, head of PR for the expedition.
They considered 2018-19, but decided there was not enough time.
“One of the conclusions from the last expedition was that we need to be in base camp earlier,” he said. “The climbers need to be there by December 20, not mid-January. And we need to get cargo and supplies there in the summer before.”
Pakistan’s K2 is the world’s second tallest mountain and is the only 8,000-metre peak left unclimbed in winter. It has a mortality rate of almost one in four compared to 4 per cent on Everest.
