Image from Wikimedia Commons
Spanish climber Miguel Angel Perez Alvarez, 46, has died on K2. Alvarez was found dead in his tent after descending to Camp 4. It is unclear if Alvarez made the summit or if he had abandoned his attempt 300 meters from the top as some have reported. According to the blog of Tamara Lunger, an Italian climber who made the summit, Alvarez was slow on his descent and was forced to spend a night outside above 8,000 meters before making it back to camp.
Alvarez was no stranger to 8,000-meter peaks. He had climbed other notable 8,000-meter mountains such as Everest, Nanga Parbat, Manaslu andK Cho Oyu.
K2 (also known as the “Savage Mountain” due to the extreme difficulty of ascent and the second-highest fatality rate among the eight thousanders) is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest. With a peak elevation of 8,611 m (28,251 feet), K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram Range and the highest point in Pakistan.
Since 1954, only 337 summits of the world’s second-tallest mountain have been recorded, and 84 people have died trying.
