Skiing down K2

Extreme skier Fredrik Ericsson to ski K2, the Savage Mountain

This summer, Swedish ski mountaineer Fredrik Ericsson will embark on his dream of becoming the first person to ski the world’s three highest mountains: Mount Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga. Arguably, the toughest challenge of the three will be his expedition to the world’s second highest mountain, K2, which begins in May 2010.

Fredrik Ericsson is one of the world’s leading high altitude skiers with ski descents of some of the highest mountains on earth, including Peak Somoni, Shisha Pangma, Gasherbrum 2, Laila Peak and Dhaulagiri.

“I have already skied on five mountains higher than 8000 meters. During these adventures I gained critical experience that will apply towards my goal of skiing the absolute highest. The project spans two years and I will try to ski the three highest mountains in the world: K2 (8612m) this summer, Mount Everest (8850m) in autumn 2010, and Kangchenjunga (8586m) in autumn 2011,” says Fredrik.

The first big challenge starts now when Fredrik, together with American alpine journalist Trey Cook, go to the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan. The mountain they plan to climb and ski, K2, is arguably the hardest of all 8000-meter peaks. It is a remarkably steep pyramid with no easy route to the top. Climbing the mountain is further complicated by unusually severe and unpredictable weather systems.

After a rough, two-week journey by plane, jeep and on foot the team will arrive on the Godwin-Austen glacier at the foot of K2 where they will set up base camp at an altitude of 5,100 meters. Over the next four weeks they will undertake several acclimatization climbs in order to prepare for the enormous challenge. Mid-July will see the team start the grueling climb to the top of K2.
The ski descent, which is the ultimate goal of the two-month expedition, is expected to take five hours. The descent from the summit all the way to base camp has a vertical drop of almost 3500 meters and has very steep sections of up to 50 degrees.

“To ski at 8000 meters is very strenuous. I can only manage to make a few turns before I have to stop and rest. After four to five turns I’m as exhausted as after skiing 1000 vertical meters in the Alps,” says Ericsson.

To follow the expedition, log onto Fredrik’s website www.fredrikericsson.com where regular updates will be posted.