Polish mountaineers make first winter ascent of Broad Peak

Broad Peak: photo - wikipedia

Maciej Berbeka, Adam Bielecki, Tomasz Kowalski and Artur Malek completed the feat at about 6 pm local time, scaling the famed peak in the Karakoram range, which lies on the border between Pakistan and China.

The news was relayed by noted climber Artur Hajzer, coordinator of the programme Polish Winter Mountaineering in the Himalayas 2010-2015.

“The summit has been conquered!” Hajzer hammered out on his Facebook page.

“It will be possible to speak of the entire success of the expedition when the team returns to base,” he added, noting that the climbers have to make a rapid descent as night is falling.

Nine mountaineers took part in this year's expedition, which was led by legendary climber Krzysztof Wielicki, 62, who came out of retirement for the venture.

Wielicki was the first climber in the world to make a winter ascent of Mount Everest, and the fifth to conquer all fourteen of the world's “eight-thousanders” (peaks over 8000m).

Broad Peak rises to 8047m, but has only now been conquered during the winter season.

Various members of the team attempted to scale the peak over the last few weeks, but winds, among other problems had prevented success until now. (nh)