Serge Hardy didn’t call off his attempt on K2 as earlier news from the mountain suggested. He turned to supplementary oxygen from the Bottleneck onward and summited on August 12, one day after the commercial teams.
Facts about K2 teams have been hard to check this season. Hardy himself confirms the lack of information from expeditions in Base Camp. The French climber colorfully describes the leaders as “James Bonds in down jackets.”
Spy game
Hardy also provided details on a tense atmosphere created between the big teams and the self-supported climbers, outfitted only as far as Base Camp by small Pakistani outfitters. He explained how, when the rumors of a weather window started, no one shared plans openly.
During the summit push, Hardy, left, shared a tent with Siddhi Ghising of Nepal. Crows had destroyed Hardy’s tent. Photo: Serge Hardy
“It was like a spy movie. Will they go? Will they not?” Hardy wondered at the time.
As he admitted, he needed good weather but also ropes, a task only the big Nepalese expeditions could provide. Hardy also referenced the previous writings of Imagine Nepal’s leader Mingma G, who accused the independent climbers of being “parasites” for using ropes laid by others. Here is Hardy’s ironical take on the issue:
The “boss” even went so far as to describe these meager forces as “parasites” via social media. The “parasites” in question had offered to carry the heavy 200m spools of rope and share their weather forecast… Only to be met with angry refusals each time.
Logically, you don’t make deals with parasites…
On the other hand, Hardy expressed gratitude to the Madison Mountaineering staff, who lent him a spare sleeping bag when he climbed to Camp 2 only to find out that crows had destroyed his tent and his sleeping bag had blown away.
Crows destroyed Hardy’s tent in Camp 2. Photo: Serge Hardy
At Camp 3 on August 10, Hardy explained that no one would say a word about when they would go for the summit. In the end, the commercial teams left altogether that night, but Hardy chose to stay put an extra day, encouraged by forecasts that ensured a three-day window.
Alone on K2
“The next day, under a blue sky and no wind, only the click-clack of my crampons pierced the silence,” Hardy recalled.
He reached Camp 4 for a short break. Before setting off again, he drew upon his “secret weapon,” a single oxygen bottle he had bought in Base Camp and carried up. The effect was immediate and, as he said, “incredible.”
“Even at the lowest flow, I suddenly transformed into Superman, trotting through the Bottleneck,” he said, though admitting he was exaggerating a bit.
Sunrise from the traverse under the Great Serac on K2. Photo: Serge Hardy
Hardy reached the summit of K2 on August 12, absolutely alone. He described the weather conditions: “On the Chinese side, a strong wind is blowing. On the Pakistani side, it’s like St. Tropez; we could put on a T-shirt, take a little nap, read a book…”
Hardy has not posted about the descent, but he told ExplorersWeb that it was “really scary” and he was slightly injured. He will share more details with us in the future.
Silence about descent
Except for Gulnur Tumbat of Turkey, none of the climbers who summited on August 11 have reported so far on the highly dangerous descent, with rockfall turning the lower sections of the mountain into a shooting gallery.
Lenka Polackova, who summited without oxygen, hinted at a difficult time.
“While everyone is celebrating the summit, we are celebrating the return…I have never been more grateful for it,” she wrote. “The mountain did not make it easy for us until the last moment.”
Everyone else, clients and guides, only posted some summit pictures and celebratory messages.
No one left on K2
A Chinese climber, Jing Guan, died below Camp 1 when she was hit by falling rocks on her way down from the summit.
Tumbat mentioned that one of the rescuers assigned to retrieve Guan’s body was also hit by a rock. Other climbers, already back at home, have confirmed that the rescuer was helped down the mountain and is out of danger. Karrar Haidri of Pakistan’s Alpine Club told ExplorersWeb that Base Camp is now empty.
