Wikipedia

Meherban Karim

Meherban Karim (21 January 1979 – 2 August 2008) was a Pakistani mountaineer. He lost his life, along with 10 other mountaineers, in the 2008 K2 disaster, following an avalanche in what was to be one of the deadliest accidents in the history of K2 mountaineering. He summited several eight-thousanders: K2, Nanga Parbat, and Gasherbrum II (without oxygen). In the mountaineering community, he was known as "Karim The Dream" and "Karim Meherban".[1]

Meherban Karim
Meherban Karim at K-2 in 2007
Born(1979-01-21)21 January 1979
Shimshal, Hunza, Pakistan
Died (aged 29)
K2, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
OccupationMountaineer

Early life edit

Meherban Karim was born in the Shimshal Valley, Hunza–Nagar District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. He spent his childhood in the Shimshal valley, where he explored the mountains and became interested in mountaineering.[2]

List of mountains climbed edit

Year Name of Peak Height Remark
1997 Minglik Sar 6050m Successful
2002 Broad Peak 8047m Unsuccessful
2003 Gasherbrum II[3] 8035m Successful
2004 Broad Peak[4] 8047m Unsuccessful
2005 Nanga Parbat[5] 8125m Successful
2006 Walyoo Sar 6030m (First Ascent) Successful
2006 K2[6] 8611m Unsuccessful
2007 K2[7] 8611m Unsuccessful
2007 Nanga Parbat[8] 8126m (Winter Ascent) Unsuccessful
2008 K2[9] 8611m Successful, died during descent

Mountaineering career edit

Karim started his mountaineering career in 1997 by summiting Mingligh Sar at the age of 18. He then learned the techniques of mountain climbing in Shimshal Valley from Rajab Shah and Meherban Shah. He summited Gasherbrum II in 2003, Nanga Parbat in 2005, and K2 in 2008[10] without the use of supplemental oxygen. He was also a part of several challenging expeditions, including winter attempts of Nanga Parbat with Italian Alpinist Simone La Terra in 2007–2008.[citation needed]

Gasherbrum II edit

In 2002, Karim made his first attempt at an 8000er by climbing Broad Peak, which was unsuccessful due to bad weather conditions. In 2003, he climbed Gasherbrum II in an expedition led by Marin Gogglemann,[11] becoming his first successful attempt at an 8000er mountain. He summited Gasherbrum II without using supplemental oxygen at the age of 23.[12][13]

Nanga Parbat edit

 
Meherban Karim on the summit of Nanga Parbat in 2005.

In the summer of 2005, Karim and Hugues d'Aubarède reached Camp 4 accompanied by Edurne Pasaban. The pair started their summit push in the dark at 2 a.m. After a long, continuous climb, they reached the summit at 9 a.m. without using any supplemental oxygen. They began their descent together. On the way, Edurne and Hugh stayed at Camp 4. After a continuous climb of 16 hours without oxygen, Karim reached the Base Camp at 6 p.m. He summited Nanga Parbat from Camp 4 and then reached at the basecamp in one Push, It took him 16 hours to reach the summit and then to the base camp. To this day, nobody else has been able to accomplish this feat.[14][15]

Nanga Parbat (winter attempt) edit

In 2007, he was praised by mountaineer Simone La Terra for the winter ascent of Nanga Parbat,[16][17][18] which was unsuccessful. They reached the standard base camp on 3 December and established Camp 1 on the Kinshofer Route at 6000m with temperatures of -35 degrees Celsius. Strong winter winds during the night of the 21st blew away their base camp kitchen tent with everything in it. After that, the expedition was called off.[19][20]

K2 edit

Hugues D’Aubarede hired Karim to climb K2 in 2006 and 2007, but both expeditions were called off because of harsh weather conditions. In summer 2008, the pair made their third successful attempt to climb K2,[21] but both died in an avalanche while descending. Karim had summited K2 without using supplemental oxygen.[22][23][24][25]

Death edit

Karim summited K2 on 1 August 2008 and died on descent near the Bottleneck on 2 August 2008,[26] at the age of 29 years, in a climbing accident while taking part in an international expedition.[27][28][29][30][31]

References edit

  1. ^ Kamran (20 December 2020). "Karim The Dream". Kamran On Bike. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Buried in the sky: Recommended Everest BC read in 2013". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Ancora storie sul K2 (seconda parte)" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Buried in the sky: Recommended Everest BC read in 2013". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  5. ^ "The eagle has landed: Simone La Terra in Pakistan ready for Nanga's winter". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  6. ^ Bowley, Graham (13 November 2010). "K2 tragedy: 'We had no body, no funeral, no farewell ...'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. ^ Bowley, Graham (13 November 2010). "K2 tragedy: 'We had no body, no funeral, no farewell ...'". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  8. ^ "The eagle has landed: Simone La Terra in Pakistan ready for Nanga's winter". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Ancora storie sul K2 (seconda parte)" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  10. ^ Bowley, Graham (13 November 2010). "K2 tragedy: 'We had nobody, no funeral, no farewell ...'". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Gasherbrum II 2003 Summits and more". www.k2news.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  12. ^ MacDonald, Dougald. "Two Winter Attempts on 8,000-ers". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. ^ "The eagle has landed: Simone La Terra in Pakistan ready for Nanga's winter". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Nanga Parbat debrief: Hugues dAubarede one step beyond Everest". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  15. ^ "The eagle has landed: Simone La Terra in Pakistan ready for Nanga's winter". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  16. ^ "The eagle has landed: Simone La Terra in Pakistan ready for Nanga's winter". www.explorersweb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Mountaineering, climbing. November - December 2007 news". www.russianclimb.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  18. ^ MacDonald, Dougald. "Two Winter Attempts on 8,000-ers". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Nanga Parbat". Montagna.TV (in Italian). 24 August 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  20. ^ "AAC Publications - Asia, Pakistan, Western Himalaya, Nanga Parbat Range, Nanga Parbat, Winter Attempt". publications.americanalpineclub.org. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  21. ^ Jajja, Sumaira (26 July 2014). "Celebrating 60 years of K2, with the Pakistani flag on top". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Death or glory: The truth about K2". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Été 2008 au K2 : le carnage des chutes de séracs !". Altitude News (in French). 24 February 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  24. ^ "K2 2008, una delle più grandi tragedie nella storia degli Ottomila". Montagna.TV (in Italian). 1 August 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Quella mattina del 2 agosto di 8 anni fa…" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  26. ^ "La tragedia del K2 en 2008, diez años después". Desnivel.com (in Spanish). 7 August 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  27. ^ Gerstein, Julie. "24 HOURS IN HELL: How 11 mountain climbers died in one day on K2, the world's most dangerous mountain". Insider. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  28. ^ "K2 2008: List of climbers who passed away released". www.everestnews.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  29. ^ "Marco Confortola: "Io che cammino lassù dove l'aria è sottile..."". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian). 3 September 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  30. ^ "K2, memorie del passato" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  31. ^ "Smola, ale aj obyčajná hlúposť: Deň, keď si najťažšia osemtisícovka sveta vyžiadala 11 obetí". tvnoviny.sk (in Slovak). 1 August 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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