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GASHERBRUM II "Killer Mountains" - an ExplorersWeb series
10:47 a.m. EDT Sep 5, 2003
In ExplorersWeb's new series we investigate messages hidden in unique statistics compiled by AdventureStats. We look at fatality rates for the 14 8000+ mountains, starting with the dreaded Karakorum/Pakistan giants. But we are not stopping there. We compare modern and old fatality statistics, trying to determine the effects of the arrival of commercial expeditions in 1990s. AdventureStats is providing the research and later, will also look into the causes of deaths.
Today, Everest has hosted close to 2000 successful summits. 179 people have perished giving a fatality rate of 9.3% (fatality rate is defined as successful summits compared to fatalities). However, since 1990 there has been an explosion of summiteers and fatality statistics have changed. Up to 1990 the Everest fatality rate is a whopping 37%, yet from 1990 until today the rate has dropped to 4.4%. So how does that compare to the rest of the 8000+ peaks? Let's check it out.
Today, Gasherbrum II (8,034 m)
Gasherbrum II, also known as GII, is the second tallest of the Gasherbrum peaks. The peaks are named for the appearance of Gasherbrum IV, which means “Shining Wall,” and are located at the northeast end of Baltoro glacier in the Karakorum Range. GII was scaled for the first time on July 7,1956 by a team of Austrian climbers including Josef Larch, Fritz Moravec and Johann Willenpart.
Of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, Gasherbrum II is considered among the “easiest” to climb. Statistics may well bear this out. However, whether the route is technically challenging or not, climbing at 8,000 meters is never risk-free.
As for GII, a total of 650 climbers have summited the peak and 17 have died. The overall fatality rate is thus 2.62%, about two-thirds less than Everest’s overall fatality rate of 9%. Comparing more recent statistics shows that GII’s ratio of death to summits has diminished even further. Up to 1990, GII’s fatality rate 7.8%, but from 1990 until today, 2 out of 457 climbers have died – thus, the rate has reduced to less than half of one percent – significantly lower than the modern Everest fatality rate (4.4%).
Prior to 1990, Everest’s risk was 37%, nearly five times greater than G2’s 7.8%. Though the ratio has diminished considerably on both peaks, in the last decade, the ratio of deaths to summits has become ten times greater on Everest than on G2 with Everest at 4.4% and GII at .44%. In a later follow up, we will look at the causes, but the facts now encourage many climbers who consider GII.
At 8,034m, GII is number 13 on the list of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, and the fourth highest in the Karakoram Range. It is located in Pakistan on the upper reaches of the Baltoro glacier, the main access route to the mountains which cuts through the center of the Karakoram Range.
The Karakoram is the second tallest mountain range on earth. It lies about a thousand miles west of Nepal's Himalaya mountain range, and extends nearly 300 miles (480 kilometers) southeastward from eastern Afghanistan. The range is bordered by Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. It is a condensed cluster of high peaks with 60 mountains over 23,000 feet. Of the world's fourteen highest mountains, four are located in within the Karakoram Range: K2, Gasherbrum I and II, and Broad Peak. K2 is the tallest mountain in the Karakoram Range and her three 8000m neighbors lie within 20 km.
This season, the “easy” 8000er allowed only some on the summit. GII was one of three 8,000m peaks that Nives Meroi, Romano Benet, and Luca Vuerich scaled within 20 days! Edurne Pasaban’s GII summit was also part of an 8,000m hat trick accomplished within 61 days. She climbed with Juanito Oiarzabal who climbed both GI and GII this summer and tied Reinhold Messner’s record of 18 summits on the 8,000m peaks. Other climbers were turned around by unfavorable weather, wisely avoiding undue risk. There were no fatalities on G2 this year.
With an overall fatality rate of 2.62% and modern fatality rate reduced to .44%, GII is statistically much less dangerous than Everest today.
Image of GII courtesy of Adventure Consultants.
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