K2 Climbing Tragedy Diagrams and Illustrations

The avalanche on K2 last week is being called the worst mountaineering disaster ever on the mountain, the world’s second-tallest peak. 11 climbers were killed as they tried to make their way across a treacherous section of the mountain called “The Bottleneck.”

The New York Times posted these illustrations of the mountain and the avalanche area, to give us a better feel for what happened. One climber died on the summit attempt and a porter was killed trying to claim his body. The avalanche didn’t happen until the climbers who had reached the summit were making their descent. The falling snow killed some climbers and severed anchored lines, trapping others in the frigid, low-oxygen “Dead Zone.”

The last survivor (there were only 5) was picked up by helicopter on Wednesday, the 6th. He managed to survive 5 days on the mountain after the accident. Italian climber Marco Confortola and three of his support team were flown to safety after waiting it out at a K2 base camp most of last week.

Seems the mission was doomed before they even made the summit. So unfortunate.

Via Get Outdoors Blog