K2 2010: Christian Stangl admits to K2 summit lies to ORF

A sad day in the mountains, but one that needed to happen. For the second year in a row the world was told there was a summit of K2 with a solo push to the top under bad conditions. Both were not true.

Climbers on the mountain in both cases knew things were not right. Some climbers were personally attacked for telling the truth, agendas were used, some showed their true colors. Many lies were told. But the truth did win out.

Editorial comment: Christian, you have done the right thing, now offer apologies to a great number of people and move on in life...

Shame on those who attacked others. Several websites might review the lies and false statements they now know are untrue and have published; pull them down and tell your readers you have published false information without checking the facts.

If we sound cautious, recall the reports of Jorge Egoheaga where the home team claimed he summited K2 when he clearly did not...

It is good to hear from the climber, what you get from the home team is most of the time true. So we are hoping for pictures and words from Christian himself soon to confirm.

The reports state he was on the summit solo at 10am August 10th and now has returned to base camp. He climbed the Abruzzi. The reports state he took pictures from the summit.

In other K2 news, no truth to story that the Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov made a summit attempt. They climbed to Camp 3 and came back down.

Dear friends of Christian Stangl,

below you will find the latest news about Christians attempt to
wrestle down K2 ;-)

We all heard about the decision to wrestle down K2 in a collaborative push of the remaining mountaineers at base camp K2. The 16 mountaineers want to meet where Cesen and Abruzzi spurs convene or near by. Christian Stangl is in on it too. Christian want�s to start his push to the summit at midnight on Sunday. He will climb from base camp to the meeting point and then to the summit in one go. Christian had chosen the Abruzzi route for the try. He want�s to
climb as quick as possible, but a �skyrun� � 24 hours from base camp to the summit and back again � isn�t a possibility this year at K2: �Appalling Weather conditions and particularly the snow masses in higher regions below summit thwarted all my plans this year. Bad luck. But now we�ll try it together.�

Ernst Wilde - Spokesman of Christian - reports from Vienna

Earlier: Next news about K2:
It was not Christians first attempt. No skyrun. Only to check conditions in round about 8.000 Meters. Sorry, please correct this if possible. A lots of communication problems. Weather is still bad.

Yours, Ernst

Dear friends, Sorry - Christian has told me few minutes ago:

He will not try it again tomorrow! He judged: "the avalanche risk is too high at the moment. I will stay overnight here at 7.000 meter. Tomorrow I will descend to base camp", so Christian told me via SAT-phone. Sincerely Yours, Ernst

Stangls first attempt

Skyrunner Christian Stangl reached on Sunday morning 7.700 meters at K2. Then he decided to abandon his attempt in cause of high risky avalanches. "Safety first", Christian told his speaker Ernst Wilde via SAT-phone. "It's too risky today. I think of last years tragedy." He paced Abbruzzi-Spur. Christian is now sitting in a tent at ca. 7.000 meters awaiting better weather and snow conditions to go back to base camp this Sunday. Tomorrow, Monday, he wants to try it again. Whether he will take the Cesen or the Abbruzzi route, Christian will decide tomorrow. Beyond the two spurs Christian decided to take the "unfinished" from mountain pioneers Fritz Wiessner and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama. Both set the altitude record in 1939 with 8.382 meters. But they didn't reach the summit. Christian will do it, hopefully. "I'm in a very good mood", Christian told via SAT-phone. "and in a very good physical condition. A few hours resting and weather and avalanche risk is ok, I start my next attempt." Christian will "skyrun" the K2: in 24 hours from base camp to summit and back.

Christian Stangl camp reports: �I�ll go up there � by all means�

Skyrunner Christian Stangl has reached base camp of the K2. For the purpose of acclimatisation the outstanding athlet from Austria directly tackled the peak, and he did it inspite of extremely bad weather. This year Stangl once again tries to reach the summit of the K2, the second highest mountain on earth, in less than 24 hours.

Admont/Vienna � July 7, 2009 ---- After a five-days walk from the small Pakistani provincial town Askole the Skyrunner Christian Stangl has arrived at the base camp of the K2 yesterday evening (local time). �The weather is extremely bad. Even the base camp at 4,000 meters is snow-hidden. There were no such conditions for a long period of time�, describes Stangls his first impressions.

This however, did not keep the extreme mountaineer from immediately climbing up the K2. At an altitude of 6,000 meters above sea level Stangl contacted his manager Ernst Wilde for a first detailed report. �There is constant snowfall. Avalanches can be heard almost every minute. There are piles of newly fallen snow. All tracks have disappeared so I must make my own path through the deep snow. This is highly strenious, but at least it facilitates acclimatisation�, says an optimistic Stangl.

Today Stangl will climb up the K2 as far as possible. He might spend the night in a tent that was left behind and return tomorrow morning. This way Stangl gets acclimatised to the extreme altitude and weather conditions.

According to Stangl it won�t be before next week that he can start his speed ascent to the K2. Before he will either climb up to an altitude of 8,100 meters, precisely to the place of last year�s accident, or else ascend the Broad Peak on the opposite side in order to get a good topographic view on the K2. �Safety is my prior concern. I need precise information on the situation up there�, claims Stangl.

Based on such information Stangl will then be able to decide on whether to take the old route or else, and more likely, to take a new route to the peak at 8,611 meters. Probably the track of the pioneer alpinists Fritz Wiessner and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama. In 1939 these two men have set a record in altitude when they reached 8,382 meters, and until this day their route has not been completed. And Stangl intends to �complete� it, also as a sign of respect and appreciation for the great mountaineering achievments of his predecessors.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who is also �waiting� for better weather at the K2, has briefly welcomed Stangl. At the base camp Stangl also met the two German mountaineers Benedikt B�hm and Sebastian Haag, who plan to tackle the Broad Peak in the so-called "Stangl-Style". I.e. as fast as possible and without technical devices. "I am pleased to see young alpinists, whom I could convince of my stil to ascend peaks of 8,000 m and more in as little time as possible", comments Stangl.

Apparently this year at the K2 there are less mountaineers than initially expected. According to Stangls estimate there are some 30 persons. Some left due to the political uproar in Pakistan, others were kept off by the bad weather conditions. Also the death of the Italian extreme mountaineer Michele Fait at the K2 a few days ago has made some change their mind.

Stangl represents the first �One-man-group� at the K2. No one before him has ever intended to tackle the K2 all alone. In his failed attempt of last year, he was accompanied by his friend Thomas Strausz . Both had to terminate due to the major avalanche at 8,100 meters. This avalanche, which also blocked the way back, has killed 11 mountaineers in 2008.

�This year the K2 once again shows its nasty face. There have also been years when no one reached the summit. The K2 is not a mountain for toursists, providing a nice view and a cosy hotel. Nevertheless I�ll go up there � by all means�, is Stangl�s final statement. According to the Skyrunner himself, his chances to reach the peak are fifty-fifty.

The 8.611 meter K2 should be the third eight-thousand mountain in Stangls career he want�s to skyrun: in less than 24 hours from base camp to summit and back. For Mt. Everest Stangl needed 17 hours to the summit, 8.188 high Cho Oyu skyrunned Stangl in 15 hours. The total time from base camp to summit and downhill to base camp again was under 24 hours. The highest mountains as a day trip. �It is possible to clim every mountain on earth in one day. For me it isn�t a challenge to be the 299th on top of K2. Not very exciting. Only speed counts�, Stangl confident.

�Skyrunning� � Stangl invented this new discipline to alpinism � claims a very challenge to mountaineers: no help from a team, no special equipment, no artificial oxygen in containers. Only a few energy bars and two liters of water: the only equipment Stangl needs to skyrun the summits of the highest mountains on earth. �It�s only the race against the stop watch, not against the mountain. Really �honest� alpine climbing�, as Stangl stated.

Editorial note: Christian Manager has answered the question: Unclear from above if this mean he will not touch ropes or camps put in by others...: "Christian uses already existing fixed ropes on the way to the summit. And also tents left behind by former expeditions; to stay overnight if necessary, to acclimate for a while in this high altitude and to survive if whether changes and it's better to crawl in a tent."

Earlier: Christian Stangl Austrian K2 climber for year 2009 arrived in Pakistan on June 28, 2009.

Asghar Ali Porik
Owner
M/s Jasmine Tours
Transit Camp: House #15, Street #15, Garden Town, Near Khanna Bridge, Islamabad.
Site: www.jasminetours.com