Ales Cesen of Slovenia and Tom Livingstone of the UK have summited Gasherbrum III.
There are no details yet on their route, but Cesen told Slovenia’s Alpine Association that they returned safely back to Base Camp on Tuesday.
The Gasherbrums lie a day away from K2 and Broad Peak’s base camps. Image: Google Maps
The pair first tried the mountain in 2022 but failed due to bad weather.
This time, Cesen only posted two updates from the Karakoram, while Livingstone remained silent on social media.
Gasherbrum III is rarely visited and has been only summited twice. At 7,952m, the peak is 48 meters short of 8,000m status, and the approach is long and tricky. It requires climbing the Southwest Ridge of Gasherbrum II, then eventually turning left to Gasherbrum III. The team planned to use this Southwest Ridge to acclimatize before their final attempt.
Gasherbrum III on a windy day. Photo: Ales Cesen
Gasherbrum III was not climbed until a Polish expedition succeeded in 1975. Here, the legendary Wanda Rutkiewicz teamed up with Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, and Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki and climbed via the East Face. Basque climbers Alberto Inurrategi and Jon Beloki made the second ascent in 2004.
The weather awarded the climbers’ patience, clearing up after constant snowfall and high winds through most of July. August is providing an unusual window for other patient climbers, such as Tracee Metcalf of the U.S., who summited Broad Peak today.
