K2 for a Price

This summer, Boulder-based climber Fabrizio Zangrilli will lead the first commercially guided expedition up K2 (8,611 m). Some critics have disparaged the trip as the first step in transforming K2 into the “new Everest,” commodifying one of the most deadly mountains in the world, but Zangrilli sees it as the beginning of a new, better form of guiding. His clients, though not pro climbers, are veterans of other mainstream commercial trips on other 8,000-meter peaks and they will be warming up on neighboring Broad Peak (8,051 m), both to acclimatize and so that he can asses their skills. Zangrilli has a strong reputation as an ethical alpinist. In 2000, he decided to save the life of a Balti porter who had been abandoned by his own clients instead of summiting K2 even though he was less than 300 meters from the top.You can follow the expedition at fabriziozangrilli.blogspot.com