The summer climbing season in Pakistan is barely underway and there is already stunning news from Nanga Parbat. ExWeb is reporting that eight climbers have already summited that mountain this week, a good month ahead of the usual schedule and even a couple of days before our official preview.
According to the story, the team consists of climbers from Iran, China, and Nepal who had come directly from Kathmandu, arriving on May 28 following a full climbing season in Nepal. That meant they were already acclimated to the altitude and could begin the climb almost immediately. The group was led by Dreamers Destination staff, and not long after reaching the mountain they were able to start their ascent.
With the Sherpa team already acclimated, the squad immediately went to work on fixing ropes. By June 10 there were nine people at Camp 3 on Nanga Parbat, including four Sherpa, four foreign climbers, and one Pakistani high altitude porter. The following day they moved up, recording one of the earliest summit bids ever. They all descending safely to Base Camp, and they have already left the mountain, with some members of the team now proceeding on to K2 as well.
This is some incredibly surprising news. Most of the teams planning to climb in Pakistan this summer are still arriving in the country, with a few en route to Base Camp. Most won’t be settled on their respective mountains for another week or two, let alone beginning their acclimatization process. Summit bids are still a long way off, with most taking place in late July or even later. But this team took advantage of the fact that they had already acclimatized in Nepal before arriving, and knocked off the mountain in rapid fashion.
Amazing work to all that were involved and congratulations to the entire team.
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