Michael Kodas

In the first days of August, when 11 climbers perished on K2 and another half dozen found themselves stranded below the mountain’s summit, some mountaineers and media criticized them as “mountain tourists.”

“It’s long past time to stop calling these egomaniacs heroes and call them what they are,” wrote one poster at the New York Times website. “Selfish, egomaniacs, and stupid.” Reinhold Messner, the greatest climber of his generation, fumed about “K2 package deals” and the “pure stupidity” of the climbers involved.

While many lamented the Everest circus’s arrival on K2, others pointed out that the mountaineers involved were highly experienced high-altitude veterans.

During interviews of eight of the disaster’s survivors and a visit to Ireland to attend a memorial service for one of the victims, I learned of the blunders and heroism of the three-dozen climbers who headed for the summit of K2 on August 1st. I also learned that just a few of the trappings of Everest have made their way on to K2. But on K2, which is far steeper and more prone to storms and avalanches than Everest, it doesn’t take much to bring disaster.

You can read my story at Outside magazine’s website:

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200809/k2-disaster-eleven-climbers-die-1.html
Cheers,

Michael