Yesterday history was made once again by the amazing Simone Moro and Denis Urubko and also this time including Cory Richards. The summit of Gasherbrum II at 8035m high during winter meant that they achieved the first ever 8000m summit in Karakoram during official winter. This is really an amazing achievement given the conditions during this time of year in this region (-46C temps and very high winds).

Simone Moro bagged his third winter ascent of an 8000m mountain with his summit of Gasherbrum II. His earlier winter achievements include the first ascent of Shishapangma (together with Piotr Morawski) and Makalu (together with Denis Urubko). Denis bagged his second and Cory his first.

Looking back from the first ever winter ascent of an 8000m which was done in 1980 by Poles Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy you will only see Polish climbers all the way until 2005 when Simone Moro climbed Shishapangma with late Polish climber Piotr Morawski. By this point the Poles had bagged seven 8000m winter ascents in the Himalayas, with Jerzy Kukuczka and Krzysztof Wielicki summiting six of them. Simone Moro and Denis Urubko’s winter climb on Makalu in 2009 closed the chapter on all 8000m firsts in the Himalayas during the official winter period, leaving only five 8000m peaks in the Karakoram unclimbed during winter (Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat and K2).

Now with yesterday’s summit of Gasherbrum II there are four left on the list:

Gasherbrum I (currently being attempted by Alex, Louis and Gerfried)
Broad Peak (currently attempted by a large Polish team headed by Artur Hajzer. Latest update that they have reached C3)
Nanga Parbat (Two Poles made it to C1 and retreated. One solo Russian climber also retreated)
K2 (No attempts on K2 this winter season)

I would not be surprised seeing the Polish team pulling of the first winter ascent of Broad Peak during winter. Maciej Berbeka from Poland actually got to the central summit of Broad Peak back in 1988 during winter, but not knowing that he was not on the main summit he retreated back to base camp only to find out he only reached the central summit.

Both Nanga Parbat and K2 have previously been attempted by Polish teams during winter without any success. These two will most likely stand as the last unclimbed 8000m winter peaks.

Related posts:

1. GII Winter Expedition: SUMMIT REACHED! HISTORY IS MADE!
2. Gasherbrum II summit push is on