On August 23, 2011, the Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner reached the summit of K2 and thus became the first woman to summit all 14 of the world's tallest mountains without the use of supplementary oxygen.
K2, the second-highest mountain on earth, located on the Pakistan-China border, is 8,611 meters (28,251 feet) high and part of the Karakoram Range. It is also called the savage or killer mountain due to its steepness and the resulting technical-climbing challenges as well as unpredictable weather conditions. 80 climbers have died there. It's also called the holy grail of mountaineering.
National Geographic has some pictures and more detailed reports.
And here's Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner's blog.
Congratulations to Gerlinde and her team!
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3 comments:
What a feat. She has placed herself in the history books. I haven't clicked the links yet, so do not know if they have made it down successfully yet.
I think Austrian women must be very special. :)
They made it at least safely to the base camp. Here's a virtual flight around the K2. Someone said, it's the prototypical mountain, as a child would draw it.
Ah, there are special women everywhere, in Oregon, too :-)).
You are so great, Francessa!
Thanks for the virtual flight link, too.
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