Thursday, March 28, 2024
Broad PeakK2

UK Duo hoping for third time lucky on K2

This summer Pete Brittleton and Paul Etheridge will hoping to realise their dreams of standing on the summit of K2.

After two failed attempts with previous expeditions they are hoping it is 3rd time lucky this time when they go it alone.

It will be the first all British K2 attempt for 20 years.

“We are Pete and Paul from Cumbria who are attempting to conquer our nemesis this summer,” they revealed via their joint Instagram account

“K2 mountain is considered ‘the Mountains of Mountains’; second in height only to Everest, this mountain is considered the hardest mountain in the world. It’s extreme weather conditions and terrain makes this mountain a real challenge.”

“Only 377 people have ever climbed K2 and our expedition is the first all British attempt for over 20 years. 

“Unfortunately our previous attempts on K2 had to be called off due to extreme weather conditions. This summer, we are set to conquer K2 once and for all. We will only be using porters to base camp and then it is just us and the mountain. No Sherpas, no oxygen for Pete; the hardest challenge we have and probably will ever face.

“We plan to summit Broad Peak mountain (8051m) first to conduct our legacy project with the local people and also complete sufficient acclimatisation, then head on to K2 (8611m).

“We hope you will follow our adventure and share the excitement of us taking Great Britain to the top of K2. 

“A huge thank you to all our sponsors for their contributions and encouragement.”

Whilst out in Pakistan; Pete and Paul have also been invited by the Pakistani mountaineering association to provide mountaineering training for their high altitude porters (HAPs).

These men are the elite team of mountaineers and porters who carry heavy loads up to 8000m without oxygen.

Adding a training and provision element to the expedition will help the team focus on the basics of mountaineering alongside the ultimate objective.

Pete will be focusing on fitness and mountain training and Paul will be leading on rope work and camp skills. The programme will last 2 weeks and will take place in Skardu and Broad Peak base camp prior to the climbs.

In 2010 Paul was asked to carry out training in Nepal so will use this programme out in Pakistan.

Best of luck to the lads, we will be keeping a close eye on their progress!