Comments Related To: K-2 the Killer Mountain Strikes Again

At least seven climbers are feared dead in the avaalanche, perhaps more according to the BBC. The avalanche apparently destroyed the ropes providing a descent throught the Chimney, a bottleneck, making it extremely difficult for any but the most expert climbers from coming down the mountain. I heard Meissner on the BBC say that too many amateurs were attempting the 8000 metre peaks and they lacked the cutting edge skills  to cope with major emergencies.

Missner suggested a traverse to the Chinese side of K2. One recalls his famous traverse of Nanga Parbat in a similar emergency, but he paid a heavy price for that by losing his brother Gunther on the way down. 

Alas, the death toll has apparently increased to 11, according to latest reports. I hope they are wrong. At altitudes of over 7500 metres, there are a number of ways for even the best climbers to get into serious trouble. One understands from Rheinhold Meissner's comments on the BBC that some of the climbers lacked sufficient experience to cope with an emergency on K-2. Any even the greatest climbers can fall off a great peak, as Mallory and Irvine did at Everest in 1924 and Herman Buhl at Chogolisa in 1957.