Climbing
Two guides from Squaw Valley, CA based Alpenglow Expeditions summited K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, without supplemental oxygen last year. Company founder Adrian Ballinger and Carla Perez reached the peak of 28,251-foot K2 in the Himalayas on July 25th, 2019.
“K2 is a savage mountain that tries to kill you.” That is how climber George Bell described the infamous peak after the first American expedition in 1953–forever giving the mountain its nickname–The Savage Mountain.
- Related: Squaw Valley, CA Based Alpenglow Expeditions Guides Just Summited K2 Without Supplemental Oxygen
Sixty-six years later, Eddie Bauer mountain guides Adrian Ballinger and Carla Perez aimed to summit the 28,251-foot (8611-meter) peak and join a community of explorers fewer in number than those who have been to outer space. Even more incredible, they both attempted the feat without the use of supplemental oxygen.
Every step of the way the team faces hazardous conditions, terrifying setbacks, and crushing misfortunes. But as Ballinger puts it, “I’ll go until the mountain tells me I can’t go anymore.”
