French climber sets record with K2 summit

FRENCH climber Benjamin Vedrines achieved a record-breaking ascent of Pakistan's K2 on Sunday (28), reaching the summit of the world's second-highest mountain in just under 11 hours, his team told AFP. The 32-year-old, known for high-speed climbs without the aid of oxygen, left K2 base camp shortly after midnight on Saturday (27) and completed the climb in 10 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.

This ascent significantly cuts down the previous record for climbing K2 without bottled oxygen, which was set by fellow Frenchman Benoit Chamoux in 1986 at 23 hours.

Vedrines attempted the summit in 2022 but was forced to turn back after suffering from hypoxia, a lack of oxygen in the blood caused by thin air at high altitudes.

"I took my revenge on this mountain," Vedrines said in a voice message shared with AFP. "But above all, I wanted to reconcile with it by doing things with maturity."

"It was very symbolic for me because I was returning in my footsteps to where I experienced those very unique moments," he said.

"I really enjoyed seeing the same sections again, but with lucidity this time."

Standing at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet) on the Pakistan-China border, K2 is 238 metres shorter than Everest but is considered more technically challenging – earning it the nickname "Savage Mountain."

Elite climbers regard the mountain, which was first scaled in 1954, as a quintessential achievement, and often attempt to set records on its jagged slopes.

Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Nepali guide Tenjin Sherpa conquered K2 a year ago, capping a record for the fastest summit of all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre mountains.

The pair completed the feat in three months and one day. Tenjin was killed in an avalanche less than three months later as he guided another climber on Mount Shishapangma in Tibet.

In January 2021, a 10-man team from Nepal became the first to summit K2 in winter as temperatures plunged to minus 65 degrees Celsius (minus 85 degrees Fahrenheit).

K2 is the world's second tallest mountain in the Karakoram range of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan (Photo: Joe Stenson/AFP via Getty Images)

The mountain regularly claims the lives of elite climbers. Rescue prospects seemed remote on Monday for two feted Japanese climbers who fell from K2's western face at the weekend.

Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima had been using the same "alpine style" of climbing as Vedrines, which relies on a minimum of fixed ropes, when they plunged from above 7,000 metres.

A helicopter spotted the motionless pair but was forced to abort a rescue attempt and their sponsor, clothing brand Ishii Sports, said on Monday they were on "steep terrain that is difficult to reach."

Rescue attempts are still being discussed and no organisation has yet declared the men dead. Successful evacuations from K2 after mishaps are rare.

A successful climb up K2's western face has been achieved only once, in 2007.

Vedrines is considered one of France's pre-eminent climbers and set a speed record climbing Pakistan's Broad Peak in 2022 before descending by paraglider.

He reached the top of the 8,051-metre mountain, not far from K2, in seven hours and 28 minutes. (AFP)