Earlier today, Explorers Web reported that the first summits of the season took place on Nanga Parbat yesterday when Polish climbers Artur Hajzer and Robert Szymczak reached the summit at 1:30 PM local time. But from the sounds of it, it was anything but an easy climb. ExWeb goes on to say that it took more than 15 hours for the duo to reach the summit, as they battled heavy winds and snow most of the way. It would take the duo another 10 hours to return to their high camp, giving them an exhausting 25 hour round trip.
Following the successful summit, there was a bit of a tense period, as Artur and Robert's teammates in C3 waited anxiously for news from them. Fortunately, the weather cleared yesterday evening, and they could be spotted on the descent through binoculars. The two climbers would later check in from C4, and were expected back in BC today, although heavy snow is keeping them in either Camp 2 or 3 for the evening.
Nanga Parbat is a 8126 meter (26,660 foot) tall peak located in the far western end of Pakistan's Karakorum Range. The mountain represents a significant climbing challenge under the best of conditions, and battling bad weather only adds to the difficulty. I can't imagine the stamina that these two men must have to enable them to summit this mountain and get back to camp safely after a 25 hour marathon. Simply amazing.
Congrats to Artur and Robert on a job well done.
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