K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, is a special kind of beast. At the highest part, wind speeds begin to rival those of hurricanes, and narrow jet streams threaten to take down anyone on the mountainside. During the winter, the temperature on the 28,000-foot mountain fall below minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And the daylight doesn’t help, because it last just a few hours. No one would attempt to summit this mountain, especially in the winter, right? Wrong. An elite team of Polish climbers set off today in an attempt to summit K2 in winter and make history. There are 14 mountains in the world with a height over 8,000 meters, and all have been climbed in winter except for K2, though climbers attempted it in 1987, 2002, and 2012. Mount Everest is taller than K2, but K2 is a more “lethal mountain.” Only 306 people have ever reached the top, and 84 people have died on the mountain since record keeping began. The Polish team, which consists of 13 members, has been preparing for almost two years, and hired a “supplemental team of weather forecasters, dietitians, sports trainers, and doctors.” They trained in hypobaric chambers, which allow trainers to manipulate air pressure and to prepare climbers’ bodies for the “high-altitude, low-oxygen environment of the mountain.” The team expects to being climbing early January.
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