“I don’t remember being this scared for my life and praying this much for it,” wrote Gulnur Tumbat after arriving in Base Camp from the summit of K2. The Turkish-U.S. climber was not happy about reaching the top, she was just “grateful to be alive.”
Tumbat, a member of the Seven Summit Treks group, was among the 39 climbers on four teams who summited K2 on August 11. The weather had finally improved, but the lower part of the mountain bristled with danger from rockfall. The experience of the descent justified their fears. Jing Guan of China was killed by a falling rock below Camp 1, and some climbers are still on the mountain.
Look up for rocks!
Tumbat’s is among the first reports from those who participated in the summit push. She describes a nightmare descent.
“We decided to descend at night to avoid rockfall risk, but weren’t we wrong,” she reflects.
Tumbat’s group stopped when they heard over the radio that Jing Guan had died instantly after being struck by a rock. They made an emergency bivouac above Camp 1 and waited for hours until dawn broke and they had at least some visibility. But conditions were no better, said the climber. In fact, they were terrifying:
Continued to rappel after rappel, constantly looking up to avoid falling rocks. Pasang yelling constantly to look up. My teammate’s helmet got cracked. Many people got hit. I took a few hits on my legs (big chunk of ice hit me in the shoulder higher up too). Rocks whizzing in all directions and many near misses.
Tumbat confirms that one of the rescuers trying to retrieve Jing’s body was also hit by a rock. Now, efforts are focused on rescuing him!
She reached Base Camp yesterday at 2 pm, and she is leaving the K2 area today. But she noted that some climbers are still on the mountain, trying to descend safely — or as safely as possible.
Debate ahead
How much risk is too much risk for a climber? More importantly, how much risk is suitable when a guide is leading inexperienced clients not skilled enough to make their own decisions? That might be the question that emerges from this dry, dangerous season. Rockfall accidents happened not just on K2, but on other mountains, and the line between success and tragedy was often mainly luck.
