Polish group to make history by scaling world's second highest mountain K-2 in winters
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ISLAMABAD - A group of Polish mountaineers set off for northern Pakistan on Sunday to start an attempt to be the first to scale K2, the world's second highest peak, in wintertime.
K2, in the Karakorum mountains along the border between China and Pakistan, is notorious for high winds, steep and icy slopes - and high fatality rates for climbers. In winter months, scant snowfall means the summit approach can turn into bare ice.
More than 70 people have died climbing the peak, many of them at the Bottleneck, where a wrong step can send a climber hurtling off the South Face, where bodies are unlikely to be recovered.
Team member Adam Bielecki, 34, told Reuters that the chance to make history is a "strong motivation" for the Polish group.
