Pakistan marks 50th anniversary of conquest of K2

By ZANAB HUSSAIN
The Associated Press

AP K2, seen from the northern area of Pakistan, is the world's second-tallest mountain at 28,250 feet.

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Italians Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni scaled K2, at 28,250 feet the world's second-highest mountain, on July 31, 1954. Compagnoni's grandson, Michele, reached the summit yesterday along with eight other climbers. They were the first climbers to reach the top in three years.

Lacedelli, now 78, trekked back to K2 base camp for a ceremony and banquet this month and has since returned to Italy.

K2 is nestled in the northern regions of the Pakistan-China border, home to five of the world's 14 tallest peaks. It is so remote it is not visible from any inhabited place. It takes four or five days of hiking, or a 90-minute helicopter flight, to get to base camp in Pakistan.

The mountain's seclusion is part of its allure, according to Ashraf Aman, who in 1977 became the first Pakistani to climb K2.

"This mountaineering is a holy job. The mountaineers, they are the prophets," Aman said. "You can get to see the light of God in the mountains."

Before this week, there had been 189 summits of K2 and more than 50 deaths — about half during descents of the mountain. That makes K2's ratio of fatalities to successful summits about 27 percent.

Everest, nearly 800 feet higher, has had nearly 2,000 summits with about 180 deaths, a fatality ratio of about 9 percent. Nepal's Annapurna, a mere 26,504 feet, is the world's deadliest mountain. It has had 130 successful summits and 53 deaths, giving it a summit to fatality ratio of about 41 percent.

In honor of the anniversary and to encourage more people to attempt K2 — particularly foreigners — fees for climbing the mountain have been cut in half, to $6,000 per team.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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