Canadian Climber Falls to his Death During K2 Climb

Canadian climber Serge Dessureault is thought to have fallen to his death on K2 just below House’s Chimney or perhaps while rappelling down the Black Pyramid on Saturday, July 7, 2018. He was climbing with fellow Quebecers Nathalie Fortin and Maurice Beausejour, who are both safe.

Fortin posted on Facebook that they had spent the night at Camp 2 for acclimatization purposes and planned to descend back to Base Camp to wait for a suitable summit weather window:

“This morning [Serge Dessureault] left 30 minutes before me to get back to the CB [Base Camp]. We don’t know what happened, but the fall was fatal. It’s very difficult here! I keep thinking about the close family I know… it’s terrible.”

Dessureault’s body has been retrieved and taken to Advanced Base Camp and will be taken to Islamabad as weather permits. The French team was supported by Summit Karakorum, who issued this statement:

“Statement of Summit Karakoram Pakistan. We stand with the family and friends of Serge Dessureault a great friend we lost today. We are ground agent of K2 Expedition of renowned climber Serge Dessureault from Canada who fell down this morning at 925hrs dated 7-7-2018 from below chimney while climbing at camp 2. His body is found by his fellow member, High altitude porter and bought to ABC We are in touch with the family to get further instructions, the final decision will be made by the family to bring down the body or buried it near K2.”

As is usual with these tragedies, there are multiple versions of the incident emerging. However, the common theme is that he fell.