Like many of us, Sergi Mingote has had a difficult year. COVID-19 brought his attempt to climb all 14 8,000’ers without supplementary O2 inside 1,000 days to a crashing halt, after seven successful summits. Locked down at home in Spain (where no one could go out for even a short run), he trained all spring in his garden. “It’s okay, the current record for the 14×8,000m No O2 is seven years, so I have plenty of time yet,” he said.
When Spain’s strict lockdown ended and borders reopened, Mingote cycled and climbed across Europe, promoting Barcelona’s bid for a future Winter Olympics. He also tried to organize an expedition to Pakistan, both to climb and to distribute tons of warm clothes to local communities. But at that time, he couldn’t get visas to enter the country.
Trying to figure out how to get the gear to Pakistan, he noticed that Seven Summit Treks’ Dawa Sherpa was organizing an expedition to Winter K2 this December. He contacted Dawa Sherpa, and somehow, the discussion developed into a suggestion that Mingote co-lead the expedition.
Instagram post by Seven Summit Treks
Somewhat prematurely, his name appeared on Seven Summit Treks’ latest social media post promoting the expedition.
Mingote has already summited K2 during his 14×8,000’er project, as part of a double-header with Broad Peak in 2018, and his personal project remains foremost in his mind. Still, Mingote admits that he is tempted.
“Winter K2 is a grand project for any alpinist, and I am seriously considering it,” Mingote told ExplorersWeb. Today, October 22, Mingote took the plunge and agreed to co-lead the expedition.
Its projected start date is December 20.
