Mountain Climbers Attempt
AS ARCTIC COLD blasts across the Midwest, many Americans are getting a little taste of what it feels like to be at the foot of the mountain known as K2 where -15 degrees is as warm as it will ever get during this winter season. The difference is that the hardcore mountaineers who are currently stationed at K2 base camp have willingly sought out these inhospitable circumstances, all for the sake of making a climb that has long been considered impossible. If they complete the unlikely feat, they will have claimed one of the last remaining great prizes in mountaineering—the first winter ascent of the world's second-tallest mountain. “You cannot imagine how much more difficult it is [to climb K2] in winter compared to spring or summer,” says Alex Txikon, speaking via satellite phone from the base camp, located at 16,700 feet on a boulder-strewn landscape blanketed in snow and ice. Txikon (pronounced chi-KON), who is from Spain's Basque region, is currently leading one of the tw...