Nepali climbers who scaled K2 in Pakistan recount success

ISLAMABAD: Nepalese climbers, who last week made history by scaling the world’s second highest peak — Pakistan’s K2 — in the winter season, praised Pakistan’s military and civil authorities on Friday for facilitating their challenging expedition, reported international media.

The leader of the 10-member Nepalese team, Nirmal Pujra, said he and his fellow mountaineers made “the impossible a possible.” He spoke in a video message after his meeting with Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

“K2 is the only mountain in the world that had remained unclimbed in the winter,” said Pujra. “Me and my team together managed to make the impossible a possible.” The Nepalese team scaled the K2 last Saturday. At 8,611 meters K2 is the most prominent peak on the Pakistani side of the Himalayan range, and the world’s second tallest after Mount Everest. Pakistani authorities provided security to the Nepalese mountaineers when they arrived in the country weeks ago. A security team remained present at their base camp until the mountaineers returned after scaling K2.