K2 isn’t nicknamed “the savage mountain” for nothing. The world’s second-highest peak is arguably the toughest challenge in mountaineering, with one of the worst fatality rates of all the 8,000ers. For a long time, it was considered unconquerable, because of its great height, almost unbroken slopes of rock and ice, and precipitous overhangs. Despite multiple attempts, no-one had climbed it in winter until January 2021, when our Founder Nimsdai & Directors Mingma David and Mingma Tenzi stood on its majestic, 8,611m-high peak.
The mountain of the mountains
Our leaders Nimsdai, Mingma David, and Mingma Tenzi will be forever associated with K2 because of their world-first winter ascent in January 2021. But both have a history with the world’s second-highest mountain that stretches back before that remarkable feat. Mingma David led the rope-fixing team on K2 twice, leading to successful summits both times. And of course, Nimsdai summited the savage mountain as part of his ‘Project Possible’ push in 2019, when many people told him it wasn’t - around 90 percent of the expeditions turned round that year without making it to the top.