Virtually all expedition teams on K2 have abandoned their 2015 summit attempts鈥攁nd opted to leave the mountain鈥攄ue to unfavorable weather and a heightened risk of avalanches, Tuesday. Madison Mountaineering and Himalayan Experience (also known as Himex) had already announced plans to turn back over the weekend, but considered climbing Broad Peak, the 12th-highest mountain in the world. In , however, Himex guide Russell Brice announced that his team would also be abandoning Broad Peak.
鈥淭his is a huge disappointment for everyone, but I must say not totally unexpected,鈥 Brice wrote. 鈥淎ll members and Sherpas have returned to BC, tired and frustrated from this last attempt, but at least everyone is safe.鈥澛
Brice noted that the path up Broad Peak, while not as steep as K2鈥檚, still had green ice, small rockfalls, and thigh-deep snowdrifts, which were more likely to slide off the mountain when disturbed by mountaineers. (Earlier this season, Broad Peak鈥檚 Camp 1 was the site of an avalanche that killed Qamber Jangjupa, a Pakistani high-altitude porter, and injured Sumiyo Tsuzuki, a Japanese climber who had to be helicoptered off the mountain.)
Other parties who have chosen to put off their K2 summit attempts for this year include the Seven Summits Treks commercial team and Philippe Gatta, who 聽early on Tuesday morning.