Updates – K2 Winter Expedition 2020-21

K2 Winter Expedition has begun with all four climbing parties already in Pakistan, some in Islamabad, a few in Skardu, and others at K2 base camp. K2 still remains the one and only 8,000er mountain with no winter ascents. There are at least four parties interested in K2 winter climb, aiming to summit K2 this year. Climbers in two of the teams were here in Pakistan last year as a single party. PakistanTravelBlog will try its best to cover the progress of all climbing teams. Please find daily updates on this year’s expedition below. Bookmark this page!

Latest News & Updates (latest on top)

December 22, 2020 (2 updates)

Update 1/2: Mingma G’s team, Seven Summit’s Sherpas, and John Snorri’s team spend the day at K2 base camp. 

Update 2/2: Seventeen clients of Seven Summit Treks reach Skardu today. They were lucky with the weather required for a flight to operate. Everyone seemed happy to reach Skardu.

December 21, 2020 (2 updates)

Update 1/2: Seven Summit Trek’s 23 clients will move towards Askole day after tomorrow, once all members arrive in Skardu. They are all busy with the final preparations in Skardu today.

Update 2/2: More clients of SST including four women arrived in Islamabad today & yesterday. Given below are their names:

1. Mr. Waldemar Kowaleski Dominik 🇵🇱
2. Mr. Colin Timothy O’Brady 🇺🇲
3. Mr. Atanas Georgiev Skatov 🇧🇬
4. Mr. Anotonios Sykaris 🇬🇷
5. Miss. Sheny Mehmed Benzesh 🇧🇬
6. Miss. Besaw Jenna Marie 🇺🇲 (not climbing – trekking to k2 base camp & training for Everest)
7. Miss. Tamara Lunger 🇮🇹
8. Miss. Valloton Josette 🇨🇭
9. Mr. Gert Jan Nauta 🇳🇱 (not climbing – trekking to k2 base camp)

December 20, 2020 (5 updates)

Update 1/5: Nirmal Purja and team arrive in Skardu today. The team members include:

1. Nirmal Purja (Nimsdai)
2. Mingma Gyabu Sherpa (David)
3. Mingma Tenzi Sherpa
4. Adriana Brownlee (climbing for training to camp 1/2 – no intent to summit)
5. 3 more sherpas

Pictures posted below.

Update 2/5: Magdalena and other team members arrive in Skardu. She wrote:

Checking in from Skardu ✈️🏔️
Behind me the most beautiful flight in my life 😍
I am incredibly grateful to be where I am and know that I am in for the adventure of a lifetime!!!

She also posted the following pictures.

Update 3/5: Arnold Costner leaves with more of SST’s Sherpas from Nepal. 

Update 4/5: John Snorri spends a sunny day at K2 base camp. John wrote:

The christmas lights are ready🎄
Today it is sunny, -11 Celsius and it feels like heat wave, really nice. But the weather is still harsh in the mountain, so we are waiting.
Weather update. 200 km per hour on the top of K2 next days and a great day to summit the 28th, but we are not ready then.

He posted the following pictures:

Update 5/5: SST Sherpa team is rechecking food and equipment with the help of local logistics company staff for the trekking part of the expedition.

December 19, 2020 (4 updates)

Update 1/4: The 2nd Sherpa team of Seven Summit Treks (SST) made it to Islamabad today. The following team members of Seven Summit Treks also arrived in Islamabad today:

1. Mr. Bernhard Adam Adolf Lippert
2. Mr. Peter Madeleine A Moerman
3. Mr. Oswald Szymon Rodrigo Pereira (not climbing – trekking to k2 base camp)
4. Mr. Tomaz Rotar (part of last year’s expedition led by Mingma G)
5. Miss. Magdalena Katarzyna Gorzkowska

Magdalena & others posted the following pictures:

Update 2/4: The trio of team Mingma finally arrived at K2 base camp yesterday.  Mingma G wrote:

Today we reached k2 BC. We had too much snow from Kurbuche to k2 bc. we will take two days complete rest and then plan our climbing. HELLO K2.

Update 3/4: John Snorri and his team are back at K2 Base Camp after fixing ropes to almost Camp 1 at 6,054 m. They spent last night at advance base camp. John Wrote:

We managed to fix lines all the way up to camp 1 today. It was sun part of the day and -25 celcius. Tomorrow we will head back to base camp, because we are totally exhausted after this day.

John also posted the following pictures:

Update 4/4: The 1st Sherpa team of Seven Summits Trek will hike from Paiju towards Khoburtse today. It involves crossing the Baltoro glacier. 

December 16, 2020 (updates)

Update 1: The 1st Sherpa team of Seven Summit Treks reached Askole today. They will trek towards K2 base camp tomorrow. 

© Seven Summit Trek

December 13, 2020 (4 updates)

Update 1/4: The third team with its eyes on K2 is expected to arrive in Pakistan today. Seven Summit Treks (SST)’s team led by Dawa Sherpa left Kathmandu today along with its first team of Sherpas. More Sherpas are expected to arrive later. The clients of SST will also start arriving in Islamabad (Pakistan) this week. This commercial expedition will comprise of the most clients and Sherpas this winter. 

Dawa Sherpa posted the following pictures before flying from Kathmandu.

Sherpas of the International K2 Winter Expedition Team © Dawa Sherpa

Update 2/4: Polish athlete turned climber, Magdalena Gorzkowska (28 years old) announces that she will be part of the International K2 Winter Expedition led by Dawa sherpa. She had been keeping this a secret as she was waiting for her sponsors to confirm their approval. She will be the second Polish joining the team, after Waldemar Kowalewski. Another Polish national, Oswald Rodrigo Pereira, who is a reporter will be accompanying her on the expedition to report from base camp. Her pictures are given below. 

Update 3/4: The second party to arrive in Skardu led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (from Imagine Nepal) started their trek towards K2 today.
They spent two days in Skardu before reaching Askole last night. Mingma G Posted the following pictures while driving to Askole.

Update 4/4: John and team are heading to advance base camp.

John wrote:

“Today we are trekking to ABC (advantage base camp) and will sleep there. The 14th it is early rise so we can keep on fixing the lines up camp 1 and hopefully along the way to camp 2. We will probably sleep in ABC and head back to base camp on the 15th.”

John posted the following pictures today.

December 10, 2020 

John Snorri’s team fixed 600 meters line up the mountain. John wrote: 

“We managed to fix 600 meters line up the mountain. On the way back we got lost when we went through the ice fall because it was already dark , and gps was messing with us. But overall good progress in the K2 winter expedition. Then on the 13th we will have another good wether. Looking forward to it.”

John posted the following pictures today.

December 6, 2020 (2 updates)

Update 1/2: John Snorri’s team had some troubles last night due to the weather. John wrote: 

“The weather was crazy last night and some of our tents and kitchen tent exploded. Today we worked all day to build up our camps, we moved our camps a bit and fixed all the tents. So now we should be ready for the next crazy weather.”

John also posted the following pictures.

Update 2/2: The 2nd out of the 4th team “Nepalese Sherpa K2 Winter Expedition” departs for Pakistan from Kathmandu airport. The members who boarded the flight include Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (Mingma G), Mr. Kili Pemba Sherpa, and Dawa Tenjin Sherpa. Mingma G posted the following pictures.

December 5, 2020

John Snorri and his team made it to K2 base camp (GPS Location) today. It is the first team to make it to the base of the mountain this year. John wrote:

“We have arrived to base camp of K2, 4.900 m. The weather is windy and freezing, – 20 °C. Now we are setting up our camp, where we will stay the next months. Everyone is feeling okay, but after 2 days we will become acclimatized. I am feeling happy and excited towards my expedition, I am surrounded with strong group, that I am looking forward to work with.”

©John Snorri – John (blue down jacket) and his team at K2 base camp (4,900m)

December 2, 2020

John Snorri’s team has reached camp Urdukas on the trail to K2 base camp today. The team’s meteorologist will be Yannick Giezendanner while the chef will be Mohsin. 

November 30, 2020 (2 updates)

Update 1/2: Nirmal Purja (Nepalese-British) finally announces his expedition to K2. He also introduced his new sponsor, Redbull. Nirmal Purja became famous last year (2019) after accomplishing an impossible project known as “ProjectPossible – 14/7″, having climbed all 14 eight-thousander peaks of the world in less than seven months, setting a world record. The former Gurkha (and British special forces) is a speed climber. In Pakistan alone, he was able to summit the five eight-thousanders in less than a month during his speed project.

Recently he has been training in the Alps, including paragliding and rumors say that he plans on paragliding from the top of K2. The climbers including sherpas on his team are still unknown but most likely, the members from his ProjectPossible will accompany him on this challenge.

Nirmal is also known as Nimsdai ©Nirmal Purja

Update 2/2: Pakistan-Iceland K2 Expedition begins today. The Icelandic mountaineer, John Snorri, and his team started the trek from Askole this morning. John Snorri had applied to obtain a climbing permit in August, and his equipment was transported to Base Camp two months earlier. The is John’s second consecutive year trying to climb K2 in winters. He arrived in Pakistan earlier last week after his Pakistan Visa was approved. 

John’s mountaineering experience is given below.

• 1992 to date: Mountain rescue National team (all-season mountain rescue)
• 2002: EMT – Emergency Medical Technician
• 2011: Mont Blanc (solo summit)
• 2014: Everest Base Camp – Kala Pathar
• 2015: Ama Dablam
• 2016: Mt. Elbrus
• 2017: Lhotse (8,516m)
• 2017: K2 (8,611m) and Broad Peak (8.047m) in Pakistan
• 2019: Manaslu (8,163m) in Nepal

The team consists of two Pakistani High Altitude Climbers (HACs), Muhammad Ali Sadpara and his son Sajid. Muhammad Ali Sadpara was on the team of the first summit party on Nanga Parbat in winters and made it to the top of Nanga Parbat four times altogether. Muhammad Ali has also summited K2, GI, Broad Peak, Makalu, Lhotse, and Manaslu. His young and energetic son, Sajid Ali summited K2 last year.

November 27, 2020

John Snorri arrives in Skardu after spending two days in Islamabad. John wrote: 

“Today I arrived to Skardu and meet with my HAP (high altitude porter) Muhammad Ali Sadpara (red jacket) and my liaison officer Captain Haris (blue jacket). We are going over final preparations for the rest of the gear. We can’t forget anything, because it is impossible to replace it after we arrive in base camp. I have a good feeling inside, everything is according to plan and that is important.

On Sunday we will drive to Askole, 6-8 hour drive. Then early Monday morning we will start trekking the longest glacier in the world, Baltoro glacier. He is 63 km (39 mi) in length. We estimate that it will take us 6-7 days to reach K2 base camp.”

John Snorri posted the following pictures.

Last year’s expedition was canceled/called-off towards the end due to Mingma’s Gyalje (team leader) calling off the expedition for himself that led the team to cancel as a whole. John was devasted as he wanted to proceed with climbing but his Nepali aides/porters were reluctant and wanted to return home. It was not until he heard the choppers arriving for a rescue that he decided to return with everyone. Since then he has been planning his own expedition, wanting to climb with Pakistani climbers.

October 25, 2020

Seven Summit Treks confirm that an international team of at least 25 climbers would leave for Pakistan to attempt K2 in winters. This would include international clients and climbing sherpas. The names of some international climbers have not been disclosed. The remaining climbers include:

1. Mr. Chhang Dawa Sherpa (Expedition Leader) – Nepal 🇳🇵
2. Mr. Antonios Sykaris – Greece 🇬🇷
3. Mr. Sergio Moreno Mingote (Assisting Climbing Leader) – Spain 🇪🇸
4. Mr. Bob Bhania – British 🇬🇧 Kenya 🇰🇪
5. Mr. Peter Moerman – Belgium 🇧🇪
6. Mr. Bernhard Lippert – Deutsch 🇩🇪
7. Miss. Josette Valloton – Switzerland 🇨🇭
8. Mr. Carlos Garranzo – Spain 🇪🇸
9. Mr. Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto – Chile 🇨🇱
10. Mr. Ngima Dorchi Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
11. Mr. Lakpa Temba Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
12. Mr. Mingma Tenjen Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
13. Mr. Pasang Dukpa Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
14. Mr. Chhangba Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
15. Mr. Dawa Finjhok Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
16. Mr. Pechhumbe Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵 (Fixing Member)
17. Mr. Lakpa Dendi Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
18. Mr. Temba Bhote – Nepal 🇳🇵 (Fixing and Leading)
19. Mr. Mingtemba Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
20. Mr. Gelje Sherpa (Fixing member) – Nepal 🇳🇵
21. Mr. Gesman Tamang – Nepal 🇳🇵
22. Mr. Sona Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
23. Mr. Sanu Sherpa – Nepal 🇳🇵
24. Mr. Atanas Georgiev Skatov – Bulgaria 🇧🇬
25. Mr. Arnold Coster – Dutch 🇳🇱
26. Mr. Waldemar Kowalewski – Poland 🇵🇱

History of K2 Winter Expeditions 1987-2021

• 1987-1988: Andrzej Zawada led the Polish National expedition. The team was able to reach a maximum elevation of 7,300m.
• 2002-2003: Krzystof Wielicki led the Polish National Expedition from the Chinese base camp. The team was able to reach 7,650m.
• 2011-2012: Victor Kozlov lead the Russian National K2 Winter Climbing Expedition. The team could not climb above 7,200m.
• 2014-15: Due to political problems, an International expedition comprising of Adam Bielecki, Denis Urubko, and Alex Txikon, the Chinese government did not issue permits.
• 2017-18: Krzystof Wielicki led the Polish National K2 Winter Expedition from the Pakistani base camp. One member of the team was only able to reach a maximum of 7,400m. Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki were on the team who were voluntarily air-lifted to rescue French climber Elizabeth Revol from Nanga Parbat during their own expedition.
• 2018-19: Two separate climbing expeditions from base camp in Pakistan. Vassily Pivtsov led one of the expeditions and comprised of Russia, Kyrgyzia, and Kazakhstan. The other comprised of Nepalese and Spaniards.
• 2019-20: Two climbing parties had permits from the Pakistan side. One expedition included the Russian-Polish leader, Denis Urubko, Don Bowie (Canada) who were aiming first for climbing Broad Peak and then K2. They did not attempt K2. The other team included citizens of Nepal, Iceland, China, and Slovenia. It was led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. Due to bad weather, problems between team members, the expedition did not carry on. The maximum altitude achieved was not more than 6,500m.