The gravity of a decision made by a veteran American climber last summer to not complete an ascent to the summit of K2 after a three-week wait for good weather was made known less than 24-hours later when 11 of the 25 climbers who did try died in the attempt.
As part of events associated with the Outdoor Retailers Convention, Dr. Eric Meyer, a Steamboat Springs, Colo., anesthesiologist, spoke publicly for the first time Sunday since returning from an August 2008 expedition to ascend the world's second tallest mountain straddling the border between Pakistan and China. Meyer, who has successfully scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, as well as mountains in North and South America, was on one of six different teams of climbers who joined forces on Aug. 1 to attempt the last and most difficult leg of the journey, 1,300 feet from the Camp IV location.
At 3 a.m. that morning, Meyer and others on his team joined up with what was supposed to be the first group to attempt the summit. Upon reaching a treacherous section of the climb, known as the "Bottlekneck," Meyer didn't like what he saw.
"We reached a point at the base of the Bottlekneck as the sun was coming up . . . it was going to be a beautiful day," Meyer said. "We looked up at the area above this steep chute . . . and saw the huge blocks of ice that overhang it . . . extremely broken up and completely terrifying . . . we decide this is not our summit day."
Meyer and three other climbers made the same call and returned to camp. Just a few hours later, they heard yelling and were told by an Italian companion that he had just seen one of the climbers still on the ascent fall. Meyer and others immediately left camp to attempt a rescue. Two hours later they reached the Serbian climber and found him dead. While trying to bring the body back to Camp IV, tragedy struck again.
"A Pakistani climber who was helping with the body recovery slipped . . . and fell to his death," Meyer said.
Above them, the remaining climbers continued to try to reach the summit. As the day progressed, 18 of them made it. While descending, a Norwegian climber was swept away by one of the giant ice blocks breaking loose and tumbling down. That avalanche also took out the ropes climbers affixed for aiding in the climb. Two more climbers, attempting a descent in the dark, without ropes, fell to their deaths.
The climbers split up, some opting to bivouac on the mountain and wait for daylight while others continued down the mountain. The following day, three Korean climbers, stranded on dangling ropes, and an Irish climber trying to rescue them were killed in another avalanche of ice.
All told, 11 climbers from various expedition groups perished. Meyer treated many of the survivors at a base camp, most suffering from extreme frostbite, exhaustion and dehydration. Meyer said the experience has not dissuaded him from climbing (he has an expedition planned in March) but that it did alter him in a profound way.
"It's not about the summit, it's really not," Meyer said. "Any mountain you climb, it's really about opening your heart to the experience and the people you're engaged in the experience with . . . how you come away from the experience a changed individual. . . . You look at things in a different way, and you appreciate things in a different way."
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