Posted: Oct 04, 2007 01:07 pm EDT
(K2Climb.net) Denis and Serguey are safe back in BC, RussianClimb reports. "They're sorry that they couldn't climb the new route... Den wrote that they started from C4 via the Japanese couloir, summited on 5.30 pm. They descended to C4 about 2 am and began the descent further on 6 am that day."

This was the first north side summit in 11 years, and the latest K2 summit ever. Denis now has 12 8000ers with only Makalu and Cho Oyu to go. Serguey Samoilov bagged his 5th 8000er summit (incl Manaslu twice).

Denis Urubko is considered one of the world's top climbers. He has summited ten 8000ers and many other major peaks in the Himalayas and Central Asia. He has also sacrificed summits to help fellow climbers in trouble, some of whom he had never met before.

Member of the Kazakh national team, Denis Urubko took a step up three years ago, in switching from large expeditions to 8000 climbs in alpine-style. He teamed up with Serguey Samoilov, by then new to Himalaya.

On May 8, 2006, Denis and Serguey completed a new, Alpine-style route on the northeast side of Manaslu (8163m). A few days earlier, they’d reached the top via the normal route, achieving the first summit on Manaslu in three years. In 2005, Denis and Serguey were also nominated for the international Piolet d’Or after a new route they opened on sight, alpine-style and in very bad conditions on the previously unclimbed southwestern face of Broad Peak. They were the only climbers to reach the summit of BP that year.

A great technical climber (Khan Tengri NF with Denis in 2000), Serguey, 50, was new to 8000+ altitude when he joined Denis for the climb on Broad Peak. The expedition was a success, as apparently was their team, since the two of them teamed up again on Manaslu last year, and were attempting a new route on K2's north face together this year.

 EMAIL   PRINT   SHARE   TEXT