For avid mountaineers around the world, K2 represents the true peak of climbing challenges. The world's second-tallest mountain after Mount Everest, K2 is widely regarded as a more difficult and grueling climb than its slightly taller and more well-known cousin.
Last month, two K2 mountaineers came under fire for their trip to the summit. Kristin Harila, a Norwegian climber, was on a mission to ascend all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter mountains as fast as possible, completing the feat in three months and blowing the 2019 record of six months and six days out of the water. She was joined by her guide, Tenjin Sherpa, along the way.
While on the way up, Harila, her team, and other climbers were seen on widely shared footage appearing to ignore an injured Pakistani porter in need of help. Muhammad Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three, fell from a dangerous stretch of the climbing trail and wound up face down in snow at 27,000 feet; he later died. The incident drew widespread criticism, but those involved have defended themselves, saying the reality of the situation is more complicated than a short video clip.
"At some point we heard somebody saying, 'Ah, ah!' as though something was wrong. We went ahead and I saw this person hanging upside down, with his belly uncovered," an anonymous climber told Insider. They found him without essential climbing gear like a down suit, oxygen supply, or gloves.
Harila and other climbers attempted to rescue Hassan in the middle of the night, but things took a turn for the worse when he became unresponsive. "That's when we realized, 'Oh shit, this is bad,'" the anonymous mountaineer said. "Even if you carried him with five or six people, I can't see a way without risking other people's lives to actually do a rescue."
Hassan, who was tasked with securing ropes for the travelers behind him, tragically passed away while climbers continued on to reach the summit then return to base camp safely. In total, more than 150 people tried to ascend the mountain that day, taking advantage of what would perhaps be the only safe conditions for climbing until next year. Harila and her guide went on to reach the top and set a new world record.
'70 mountaineers stepped over a living guy who needed help'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 11, 2023
Willhelm Steindl claims there was "no rescue mission" to try to help Muhammad Hassan who died while climbing K2
Renowned mountaineer Kristin Harila has denied the claims
Story: https://t.co/FtufwuEBsp pic.twitter.com/EXms26rZKm
Wilhelm Steindl, an Austrian climber who provided the now-infamous drone footage of other climbers stepping over Hassan's body on the narrow mountain path, told Sky News that the mountaineer's code of ethics was being violated right in front of them.
"There was no rescue mission," Steindl stated plainly. "Seventy mountaineers stepped over a living guy who needed big help at this moment, and they decided to keep on going to the summit."
Steindl lamented that the climbers didn't abandon their climb to help someone clearly in need of assistance. It would have derailed nearly everyone's climbing plans, but it would have been the right thing to do.
"If a rescue mission had started at this point, the people behind the traffic jam, they have to turn around and they have to go down," he told Insider. "Nobody would reach the summit."
"I don't know if you could bring him down alive. But there must have been a rescue mission," he continued. "If someone is dying, it's quite normal to stop the expedition to bring someone down. They did not stop."
Ultimately, Steindl believes the situation is a sign that a better protocol needs to be in place to ensure the safety of all those who attempt to climb K2. He also believes some climbers should reconsider their priorities when trying to reach the peak and something goes wrong.
"I think the system up there failed. Because nobody felt responsible," he said. "That's the big thing. You have to stop and say: 'Nobody is passing this point. You turn around and we bring him down, we try to help him.'"
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Harila recounted her side of the story in a lengthy post on her website. She reiterated that she and her team "did everything [they] could for him at the time" to ensure Hassan's final moments wouldn't be in the freezing cold. She chose to speak out "because of all of the misinformation and hatred that is now being spread," including "death threats" against her and her fellow climbers.
According to her, Harila and her team spent hours in the dark trying to rescue Hassan on a treacherous and narrow section of the mountain where climbers have previously been killed in avalanches. Ultimately, they weren't able to provide the life-saving assistance they'd hoped.
Her cameraman, identified as a man named Gabriel, stayed behind to give Hassan oxygen from his own tank and try to get the porter back on his feet while Harila and her guide continued on to the peak after hearing the rope-setting team ahead was having trouble.
When she returned to base camp, she pushed back against claims that everyone who passed Hassan just left him there.
"We heard that people thought no one had helped him but we had. We had done our best, especially Gabriel," she said. The photographer gave him hot water and tried to warm up his gloveless hands.
"In total, I think Gabriel spent almost two and a half hours with Hassan in the bottleneck while people were passing by," she explained. "I don’t think people understood the gravity of what was happening with Hassan as they were climbing, and that is why we see they are stepping over him to reach safety on the other side."
Harila ultimately hopes that nothing like this ever happens again and sent her condolences to Hassan's family. She also directed readers to a GoFundMe for Hassan's family set up by Steindl.
"It is truly tragic what happened, and I feel very strongly for the family," Harila concluded. "If anything, I hope we can learn something from this tragedy. Everyone that goes up a summit needs proper training, proper equipment, and proper guidance. From what I understood, Hassan was not properly equipped to take on an 8,000-meter summit. What happened is in no way his fault, but it shows the importance of taking all of the possible precautions so that we can help ourselves and others."
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/dTyXZvk
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