Six Irish mountaineers who intend to tackle K2, the world's second-highest mountain and its most dangerous, have pledged to do so without relying on vital bottled oxygen at high altitude or the support of sherpa staff.
The six climbers have received permission to climb the 8,611metre (28,251ft) Himalayan mountain in the Karakoram range of northern Pakistan next year.
They will also attempt the world's 12th-highest summit, Broad Peak (8,047 metres) on the same trip. While more than 1,000 people have now climbed Everest, including two Irishmen, only just over 100 ascents of K2 have been recorded to date.
Announcing details of the expedition in Belfast yesterday, the leader, Calvin Torrans, said the group would be totally independent. "We will acclimatise on Broad Peak first and make one push for K2, Alpine-style, carrying all our gear and equipment. Until we are ready, we will actually keep away from K2 as much as possible," Mr Torrans told The Irish Times.
K2's reputation goes before it, a cold, bold mountain associated with difficulty and death. Last year Alison Hargreaves, who had becomes the first British woman to make an unsupported ascent of Everest, perished on her descent from its summit along with six other climbers. It is believed that the mountaineers were swept off by a 260 m.p.h. maelstrom which hit them on the Abruzzi Ridge.
Just a decade before, a dozen climbers died on its flanks, including Julie Tullis and Alan Rouse, the first Britons to reach the summit.
Farther north than Everest, K2 is regarded as technically more difficult. "On Mount Everest it feels as if you are in the womb, but on K2 you are always out on the edge," said Reinhold Messner, the Tyrolean who made the first ascent of Everest without oxygen. The 300-mile approach to the mountain takes 14 days, and can be as hazardous as the peak itself in the wrong season.
The Irish expedition plans to climb by the Abruzzi Ridge,, the so-called "standard" route,, which was named after the Italian duke who made the first attempt on the south-east ridge in 1909. It wasn't until 1954, the year after Tensing and Hillary reached the summit of Everest, that the first ascent of K2 was recorded by 11 Italians and their Hunza high-altitude porters.
One man died during the expedition, which used fixed ropes, winches and supplementary oxygen. Shortly afterwards foreigners were banned from this part of the Karakoram range, and no permits were granted for two decades.
The Torrans expedition hails from both sides of the Border. Torrans (54), a Belfast man and mountaineering instructor living in Bray, Co Wicklow, is Ireland's first mountain guide and has been climbing for more than 30 years. He has made many impressive ascents in North and South America, Canada, the Alps and the Himalaya, and has recorded a string of new routes on rock faces throughout this island.
He is married to climber Clare Sheridan and they have three children.
Eddie Cooper (37), his deputy leader, is also from Belfast and has 18 years of climbing experience. Cooper, who is married with one child, is a house husband and part-time builder and decorator. Ian Rea (40), a mountaineering instructor from Annalong, Co Down, is regarded as one of Ireland's leading winter mountaineers and has been climbing for more than 20 years. He made the difficult first ascent of Bhagirathi 2 in the Himalaya.
Also on the expedition are: Martin Daly (40), a Garda sergeant from Dublin, whose experience over 15 years includes the Irish attempt, along with Torrans and others, on Manaslu in 1991, which was defeated by bad weather; Donie O'Sullivan (36), a doctor and fellow member of the Manaslu expedition, with 10 years of climbing behind him; and Paul Dunlop (28), a mature student at Queen's University Belfast and a leading rock climber.
The K2 attempt will be made five years after the first ascent of Everest in May 1993 by an all-Irish expedition led by a Belfast architect, Dawson Stelfox. Since then, a Cork man, Pat Falvey, has also climbed Everest as part of his successful drive to notch up the world's highest seven summits. The decision by Torrans and Cooper not to use oxygen is regarded as both admirable and not unusual: K2 has been climbed reasonably frequently without oxygen over the last 20 years.
"Should we succeed, not only will this be an important ascent in Irish mountaineering, but it will be highly respected throughout the mountaineering world," the expedition said. The one uncertainty, apart from weather, will be sponsorship: the peak fee for K2 alone is $10,000.
It will not be the first Irish presence on the savage mountain. In 1902 an Irish climber named Aleister Crowley was a member of the first serious attempt on K2. Crowley, a magician, was into "dope, satanism and other such pursuits" but was also a very good alpinist, according to Torrans.
The Irishman advised against his leader's approach by the northeast ridge. When the weather turned, and the group was forced back at 6,000 m, Crowley was proved right. At one point, however, he threatened another climber with a revolver.
The Irish K2 expedition team is seeking commercial sponsorship. Potential supporters should contact Des Murnane, tel 01-2884941; fax 01-283-3539.
The 1997 Boardman-Tasker award for Mountain Literature has been won by Paul Pritchard, author of Deep Play, which was published this month by Baton Wicks. The Irish Everest climber, Dawson Stelfox, was one of the judges for the award.