K2Climb.net has posted a report this morning that Kazakh climbers Denis Urubko and Serguey Samoilov have topped out on K2 from the North side. The first successful summit from that direction in 11 years. Furthermore, this is the latest K2 summit in history as well.
The climb has not been an easy one for these two, who were late in arriving on K2 to begin with. They have also been extremely patient, waiting out the weather and battling health issues along the way. When all other teams gave up their K2 dreams for this year and headed home, Denis and Serguey stayed behind, and continued their work, finishing up their acclimatization climbs, and waiting for their opportunity. It all payed off for them yesterday when they finally had the opportunity to summit. They sent a simple SMS message to RussianClimb.com from C4 that read: "SUMMIT!!! We're in C4, beginning the descent. We reached the top yesterday."
From their other SMS messages sent prior to that one, it seems that it was rough going. The weather was terrible, with 50 MPH winds and almost zero visibility, and yet they still managed to summit and are now descending the mountain. Lets keep our fingers crossed that they get back to BC safely, as we all know how treacherous K2 can be on the descent.
I'm sure we'll hear more about this climb in the days ahead. For now, I offer a hearty congratulations on a job well done. Now get home safe guys!
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