Exped Operators for K2

[champs_de_glacé]

I don’t have much climbing background actually —

And you still want to climb K2? I'm not criticizing, but this is rather strange and a lot of companies may not accept you on a team.

Good luck I guess though and let us know how it turns out.

I welcome criticism and yes climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023 and have done less than 10 — that said, I have typically been one the faster climbers in each of the prior expeditions. At 51, I am well aware that each year I get weaker — with family and finances not many allow another opportunity.

[champs_de_glacé]

Inspired by your courage and story, I just want to leave a message and say “ Hi”.
K2 is always my dream, which I would love to see it in person someday since I am from Asia. I read a lot of stories of it….
And I plan to go to Nepal this summer for the Annapurna base ABC trail.
There is a forum called “ 2himalaya” in which there are a lot of climbing and 8M mountains information in Nepal and Pakistan. As far as I know, many Sherpas from Nepal guided K2. And In January 2021 K2 became the final eight-thousander to be summited in the winter by a team of Nepalese climbers led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.
Good luck to u!

Annapurna trail would be epic — best wishes — that was my initial plan and then friend canceled and I ended up on Three Passes trek in Everest Region and tried a few “trekking peaks” and happened to have a guide from Nepali Mountaineering School who has helped me immensely.

[greenonion]

I don’t have much climbing background actually —

And you still want to climb K2? I'm not criticizing, but this is rather strange and a lot of companies may not accept you on a team.

Good luck I guess though and let us know how it turns out.

I welcome criticism and yes climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023 and have done less than 10 — that said, I have typically been one the faster climbers in each of the prior expeditions. At 51, I am well aware that each year I get weaker — with family and finances not many allow another opportunity.

Not sure which is more, uh, ambitious. Aspiring to try K2 at 51 having sparse climbing experience. Or trying Satan’s ridge in winter (other thread). Do be careful and realistic. I do admire the aspirations though

[justiner]

The Satan's Ridge thread was started by an early 20's phenom so that's what my money's on.

[champs_de_glacé]

To be clear, I just climbed over 8,000m (Manaslu) with one of the experienced K2 guides — so not quite a “newbie” — the Nepali model is to to have 1:1 guides, fixed ropes, and O2 so it’s really more of a vertical ultramarathon if you can take the altitude. That said it’s intrinsically dangerous and there are always wildcards.



And you still want to climb K2? I'm not criticizing, but this is rather strange and a lot of companies may not accept you on a team.

Good luck I guess though and let us know how it turns out.

I welcome criticism and yes climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023 and have done less than 10 — that said, I have typically been one the faster climbers in each of the prior expeditions. At 51, I am well aware that each year I get weaker — with family and finances not many allow another opportunity.

Not sure which is more, uh, ambitious. Aspiring to try K2 at 51 having sparse climbing experience. Or trying Satan’s ridge in winter (other thread). Do be careful and realistic. I do admire the aspirations though

To be clear, I just climbed over 8,000m (Manaslu) with one of the Everest

[greenonion]

I welcome criticism and yes climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023 and have done less than 10 — that said, I have typically been one the faster climbers in each of the prior expeditions. At 51, I am well aware that each year I get weaker — with family and finances not many allow another opportunity.

Not sure which is more, uh, ambitious. Aspiring to try K2 at 51 having sparse climbing experience. Or trying Satan’s ridge in winter (other thread). Do be careful and realistic. I do admire the aspirations though

To be clear, I just climbed over 8,000m (Manaslu) with one of the Everest

Very well done. It’s just that K2 is supposed to be quite a different beast than those two and many others. All the best!

[Eli Boardman]

climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023

Wow, if that's what it takes to get signed onto a commercial K2 expedition, I guess I really need to reevaluate the amount of admiration that I previously accorded to Karakoram 8000er climbers. I fondly remember the days when I was naive enough to believe that climbing an 8000er (other than Everest) meant you were a serious mountaineer.

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

[cottonmountaineering]

climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023

Wow, if that's what it takes to get signed onto a commercial K2 expedition, I guess I really need to reevaluate the amount of admiration that I previously accorded to Karakoram 8000er climbers. I fondly remember the days when I was naive enough to believe that climbing an 8000er (other than Everest) meant you were a serious mountaineer.

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

most of the nepali guide companies will take anyone with money on an 8k expedition, i imagine a few of the more reputable ones want at least experience on an 8k mountain before k2. most of the western guide companies wont take you unless you have climbed everest. k2 is brutal compared to everest so i imagine most of the "money" clients will not succeed

[seano]

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

A quick search on Peakbagger shows 191 peaks between 7000m and 8000m with at least 1000' prominence. Other than the Snow Leopards and a few other famous ones, I'll bet plenty of those will be hard. Lower your definition of "high" to 6000m and you'll find plenty of summits in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, with no permits or rules (other than an easy-to-obtain border zone permit for some). Those should be plenty hard to reach and figure out how to climb.

[jfm3]

climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023

Wow, if that's what it takes to get signed onto a commercial K2 expedition, I guess I really need to reevaluate the amount of admiration that I previously accorded to Karakoram 8000er climbers. I fondly remember the days when I was naive enough to believe that climbing an 8000er (other than Everest) meant you were a serious mountaineer.

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

Oh come on Eli, you have a better perspective than this. Don't be such a nihilistic sandbagger. Karakoram 8000 meter mountains ARE hard. You have to fly halfway around the globe, deal with all the second-world bureaucracy and hike 2 weeks into the middle of nowhere, then spend 2 months living on a glacier, shitting in a bucket, dodging avalanches and trying to survive at unsurvivable altitudes. All of that is HARD to do. Why is there such obsession in the climbing/mountaineering world with the "hardness" of a route? Not every mountain has some aesthetically perfect route that combines 30 pitches of 5.10 under an overhanging serac at 7000 meters or whatever fantastical lines people can conjure up for their next Piolet d'Or submission. Everest IS hard. The 8000ers ARE hard. Is someone not a real mountaineer unless they court death every time they leave their tent? We can't all be Ueli Steck or Colin Haley.

[d_baker]

climbing K2 is quite ambitious at this point as I just started rope climbing in 2023

Wow, if that's what it takes to get signed onto a commercial K2 expedition, I guess I really need to reevaluate the amount of admiration that I previously accorded to Karakoram 8000er climbers. I fondly remember the days when I was naive enough to believe that climbing an 8000er (other than Everest) meant you were a serious mountaineer.

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

Oh come on Eli, you have a better perspective than this. Don't be such a nihilistic sandbagger. Karakoram 8000 meter mountains ARE hard. You have to fly halfway around the globe, deal with all the second-world bureaucracy and hike 2 weeks into the middle of nowhere, then spend 2 months living on a glacier, shitting in a bucket, dodging avalanches and trying to survive at unsurvivable altitudes. All of that is HARD to do. Why is there such obsession in the climbing/mountaineering world with the "hardness" of a route? Not every mountain has some aesthetically perfect route that combines 30 pitches of 5.10 under an overhanging serac at 7000 meters or whatever fantastical lines people can conjure up for their next Piolet d'Or submission. Everest IS hard. The 8000ers ARE hard. Is someone not a real mountaineer unless they court death every time they leave their tent? We can't all be Ueli Steck or Colin Haley.

I assume Eli had some sarcasm in that post.

"We can't all be Ueli Steck or Colin Haley"
One is dead. Be like the other...

[jfm3]

Wow, if that's what it takes to get signed onto a commercial K2 expedition, I guess I really need to reevaluate the amount of admiration that I previously accorded to Karakoram 8000er climbers. I fondly remember the days when I was naive enough to believe that climbing an 8000er (other than Everest) meant you were a serious mountaineer.

What remaining high mountains (7k+) actually count as "hard" these days? G4, Masherbrum, Namcha Barwa, ??

Oh come on Eli, you have a better perspective than this. Don't be such a nihilistic sandbagger. Karakoram 8000 meter mountains ARE hard. You have to fly halfway around the globe, deal with all the second-world bureaucracy and hike 2 weeks into the middle of nowhere, then spend 2 months living on a glacier, shitting in a bucket, dodging avalanches and trying to survive at unsurvivable altitudes. All of that is HARD to do. Why is there such obsession in the climbing/mountaineering world with the "hardness" of a route? Not every mountain has some aesthetically perfect route that combines 30 pitches of 5.10 under an overhanging serac at 7000 meters or whatever fantastical lines people can conjure up for their next Piolet d'Or submission. Everest IS hard. The 8000ers ARE hard. Is someone not a real mountaineer unless they court death every time they leave their tent? We can't all be Ueli Steck or Colin Haley.

I assume Eli had some sarcasm in that post.

"We can't all be Ueli Steck or Colin Haley"
One is dead. Be like the other...

Yeah that's my point. Not everything has to be summit or death. Climbing in the Karakoram is serious mountaineering. I think Eli is a great mountaineer himself- his Wyoming 13ers project was a great undertaking (hiking up the tame slopes of Francs Peak with an AK47 and 2 extra magazines to battle the grizzlies is pretty wild). But I remember another forum post, a few years ago, in which he said, essentially, that without a risk of death, nothing is an "adventure". Mike (oldschool) kinda chewed him out on that one. I agree with the sentiment that this particular forum is probably not the best place to be sourcing information about guided K2 climbs. But the guy who asked that has some admirable summits on his profile page. Let's not pile on by saying he's a bum because he can't climb K2 solo.