Boulder's Fabrizio Zangrilli has spent 13 years guiding climbers to the top of the world's highest peaks. Later this month, the accomplished alpinist will lead 10 select clients on a first-ever commercial trip up the Himalayan peak K2, the world's second-highest mountain and its most perilous.

A tall, lean 36-year-old mountaineer who spends 10 months a year climbing formidable heights in faraway lands, Zangrilli calls his plan "super guiding," in which he serves more as a coach than a step-by-step guide.

"This is the evolution of high-altitude guiding," he said.

His team has been vetted from several dozen applicants. They are paying $11,500 each, and they all have experience climbing above 7,000 meters, the nefarious "death zone" where the lack of oxygen decimates body and mind.

"This isn't about who has the money," said Zangrilli, who is leading the expedition for Massachusetts-based Field Touring Alpine. "It's about skills and expertise."

For the full story, visit denverpost.com.

Archived comments

lets hope k2 doesn't end up a garbage dump like everest

Ned_Farmer

6/2/2009 9:05:40 AM

Yes, let's.

lovepostin

6/2/2009 9:16:49 AM

I don't think K2 should ever be commercially guided.If you can't climb it without a guide, you probably shouldn't be up there! Look at Everest.90% of the people that climb it don't belong there.It's not a place to try climbing, or see if you can do it. It means so much more then that and should stay that way. They need to restrict Everest for that matter. It's out of control!!I hate to deny anyone opportunities but it's not Disney Land, its the highest peak on earth.

What's the famous quote?"Climb Everest and the world sees you as a world class climber, climb K2 and other climbers see you as a world class climber"

davebks

6/2/2009 10:44:00 AM

The garbage dump at Everest has been turned into a tiny pile of trash.This last season that just wound up that will be broadcast on Discovery (not a plug) had most of their stuff off of the mountain.You can not go in without a deposit anymore.If you even leave a dead body on the mountain you are fined.Its not perfect, but its gotten much better.

The main issue was the cyclone that just tore through the area burying all of the equipment at C2 and C1 and BC under 3m of snow.That equipment will be picked up when conditions improve, but no sane person would enter that area right now.

I have very mixed feelings about guiding.I figure if you can guide it safely, then teach these people if they want the lesson.Everest is surely a fixed rope climb anymore for the tourists which has made it safe enough to move up, in fact they have multiple ropes setup now for the up and down traffic, or fast and slow traffic.In the end, who cares.Whats the point of living?It surely isn't to worry about death around every corner.

super_boulder

6/2/2009 1:52:10 PM

K2 for $11,500? I assume thats supply your own transportation to somewhere high on the Abruzzi Ridge; even so- this must be a depression, not a recession.

mack520@yahoo.com

6/2/2009 2:58:27 PM

11,500 sounds completely not possible.Just getting your gear to base camp will cost that much.They must mean airfare only for one person one way.;)

super_boulder

6/2/2009 3:38:17 PM

I agree, $11,500 just doesnt make sense. Unless they are super sponsored since this is the first time a commercial guide would be up there.Companies jumping on the bandwagon now...

I just hope no one gets into a situation that can be avoided right now back on low ground.

Sounds risky to me. On the flip side, I would love to go up K2, but much like Everest, I don't want to die because some idiot who shouldn't be there in the first place took to long on the second step or something.

All bigger discussions for another day in another forum.

Safe climbing to all

davebks

6/2/2009 4:08:02 PM

Will be interesting to see how it shakes out. The clients are there to expand guiding, but then again K2 is a lot more technical and dangerous than Everest. I believe it's 10% of those who summit die on the descent. I don't know what the stats are for how many attempt it versus summit, but would guess that success rate is much lower than Everest.

It's hard to stay in business if you offer a low success rate, higher death rate, then get sued more from dead client's families and/or keep killing off guides, so it's not as likely to become the Everest Express scene anyway.

AliceInBoulderland

6/2/2009 5:05:42 PM

Alice:

The stats for fatalities on K2 are a lot higher than 10%.

As I recall, 1 out of every 2 or 3 who summit, die, usually on the descent in a section called the the Bottleneck, a 100-meter narrow couloir at 8300 meters that is 80-90 degrees.That was the site of last year's avalanche that took out the ropes and killed 11 people.

Improvements in communications and forecasting in recent years have improved the odds as now climbers can back off the mountain before the weather gets too bad.A few years back, I saw a talk at Neptune's by a very famous Austrian climber who in 1986 went up with 6 other people, summitted, got caught in a killer storm, and returned to BC with only one other person.

K2 should probably not be a commercial venture.

srhaymes@comcast.net

6/3/2009 10:25:11 AM

No, it's 32 out of 299, so about 10% - check it out:

http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/k2.shtml

This mentions that only 2.5% summiteers die on descent for Everest as a comparison though:

http://www.k2climb.net/news.php?id=17508

What is harder to come by is the data for deaths compared to attempts. Most probably don't summit who attempt it, but that's just a guess.

AliceInBoulderland

6/3/2009 1:23:48 PM

Oh, swell!! "It's not about the money", yet.

MacBode

6/16/2009 5:33:41 PM