French mountaineer Benjamin Vedrines counted every second as he made history’s fastest ascent of K2 without oxygen, but said he does not add up the growing number of records to his name.
“It’s not the records themselves that interest me, it’s also the links that I create with certain mountains and especially in the case of K2,” the 32-year-old said. “It fascinated me from the first moment I saw it.”
Vedrines scaled the world’s second-highest mountain — standing at 8,611m on the border of Pakistan and China — in 10 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds on July 28.
Photo: AFP
The ascent slashed by more than half the previous record for climbing K2 without bottled oxygen, completed in 23 hours by fellow Frenchman Benoit Chamoux in 1986.
The remarkable feat on the “Savage Mountain” came exactly two years to the day since Vedrines was forced to abort his first attempt as the high altitude starved his brain of oxygen a mere 200m from the top.
While his record has made headlines worldwide for its speed, for Vedrines it is remarkable for the opposite reason — because it was so long in the making.
“I wanted to arrive there really ready, prepared, body, mind,” he said. “I pay attention to doing things well, to building them. These are projects that take time.”
Vedrines is considered one of France’s pre-eminent climbers, and in 2022 set a speed record climbing Pakistan’s Broad Peak — the world’s 12th-highest mountain — before descending by paraglider.
Back home in the French Alps he has also broken a host of records.
He uses the “alpine style” of climbing, which relies on minimal use of cumbersome ropes in favor of moving swiftly up the slopes.
Yet without the aid of oxygen tanks to counteract the thin atmosphere, he faced a paradox on K2 — needing to move quickly, in one of the world’s most unforgiving environments, with minimal effort.
“It requires knowing how to go slowly to go fast,” he said. “It is a little bit of a contradiction that we have to negotiate.”
To make matters worse, poor weather on the mountain prevented his attempts to acclimatise.
“I had to face a lot of unforeseen events during this expedition,” he said. “I knew how to persevere. I knew how to be determined, patient and above all humble because this K2 mountain requires a lot of humility.”
While Nepal’s Mount Everest is about 240m taller than K2, the Pakistan peak first scaled in 1954 is regarded as a more challenging ascent. Elite climbers often talk of a special connection to the mountain despite its fatal reputation. Historically about one in four ascent attempts have ended in death.
There have been fewer fatalities over the past few years, but two Japanese climbers also attempting to scale K2 using the “alpine style” fell the day before Vedrines’ ascent, with their motionless bodies spotted by a helicopter. A rescue was deemed impossible.
At times Vedrines was climbing solo, as well as at record speed.
“I had to forge a little path in the snow and there was this slightly mystical atmosphere that is specific to K2,” he said.
Vedrines left K2’s Advanced Base Camp at 5,350m just after midnight, and covered the 3,261m to the top before lunchtime.
He spoke to Agence France-Presse a week after making his descent, in the resort town of Skardu — the gateway to northern Pakistan which is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000m.
“I feel very grateful that the K2 mountain finally accepted me this year,” Vedrines said. “It was not a form of revenge, but a form of reconciliation.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS