Polish to take on K2, Broad Peak

A nine-member mountaineering expedition from Poland, including four female climbers will take on the world’s second highest mountain K2 in 2010.

With the Everest season done and dusted, the Himalayan climbing season turns its focus from the warmer Nepalese region, to the colder and more volatile Karakorum area in Pakistan.

With the highest concentration of 8000 metre peaks on the planet, the region is most famous for K2, the 2nd highest mountain in the world.

Lead by Boguslaw Ogrodnik, the Polish will embark for Broad Peak, a lower 8000 metre peak opposite K2 within the next few days, after which they will move to K2. They hoped to reach the summit of the second tallest mountain in the world by mid August.

Also known as Savage Mountain, K2 has the 2nd highest fatality rate amongst the tallest peaks in the world. For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying. Only eight Polish climbers have previously scaled K2.

According to the Express Tribune in Pakistan, the nine-member team which includes seven polish members is significant in that almost half the expedition members are women. The team also plans to shoot a documentary on the exploits of Polish female climbers through the course of their visit to Pakistan.

The female members of the expedition are Anna Czerwinska, Kinga Baranowska, Tamra Stys and Patrycja Jonetzko. To date less than 10 female climbers have reached the summit of K2.

The Polish are the second European team to announce an expedition to K-2 in as many months.

An Italian team in partnership with the Alpine Club of Pakistan announced a cleaning expedition to K-2 last month which sought to reduce the impact of waste left behind by climbers through proper disposal.

Source article: K2 and Broad Peak Polish expedition By Syed Ali Ehsan; Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2010.

PHOTO: AP