French climber says he took his time in speed record K2 summit

French climber Benjamin Vedrines (left) returns to Hushe village in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region after he summited K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, in record time – Copyright AFP Manzoor BALTI

Nisar ALI

French mountaineer Benjamin Vedrines counted every second as he made history’s fastest-ever ascent of K2, but says he doesn’t add up the growing number of records to his name.

“It’s not the records themselves that interest me, it’s also the links that I create with certain mountains and especially in the case of K2,” the 32-year-old told AFP.

“It fascinated me from the first moment I saw it.”

Vedrines scaled the world’s second-highest mountain — standing at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet) on the border of Pakistan and China — in 10 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds on Sunday, July 28th.

The ascent slashed by more than half the previous record for climbing K2 without bottled oxygen, completed in 23 hours by fellow Frenchman Benoit Chamoux in 1986.

The remarkable feat on the “Savage Mountain” came exactly two years to the day since Vedrines was forced to abort his first attempt as the high altitude starved his brain of oxygen a mere 200 metres from the top.

While his record has made headlines worldwide for its speed, for Vedrines it is remarkable for the opposite reason — because it was so long in the making.

“I wanted to arrive there really ready, prepared, body, mind,” he said. “I pay attention to doing things well, to building them. These are projects that take time.”

– ‘Go slow to go fast’ –

Vedrines is considered one of France’s pre-eminent climbers and in 2022 set a speed record climbing Pakistan’s Broad Peak — the world’s 12th highest mountain — before descending by paraglider.

Back home in the French Alps he has also broken a host of records.

He uses the “alpine style” of climbing which relies on minimal use of cumbersome ropes in favour of moving swiftly up the slopes.

But without the aid of oxygen tanks to counteract the thin atmosphere, he faced a paradox on K2 — needing to move quickly, in one of the world’s most unforgiving environments, with minimal effort.

“It requires knowing how to go slowly to go fast,” he quips. “It is a little bit of a contradiction that we have to negotiate.”

To make matters worse, poor weather on the mountain prevented his attempts to acclimatise.

“I had to face a lot of unforeseen events during this expedition,” he said.

“I knew how to persevere. I knew how to be determined, patient and above all humble because this K2 mountain requires a lot of humility.”

While Nepal’s Mount Everest is around 240 metres taller than K2, the Pakistan peak first scaled in 1954 is regarded as a more challenging ascent. 

Elite climbers often talk of a special connection to the mountain despite its fatal reputation. 

Historically around one in four ascent attempts have ended in death.

Recent years have seen fewer fatalities, but two Japanese climbers also attempting to scale K2 using the “alpine style” fell the day before Vedrines’ ascent, with their motionless bodies spotted by a helicopter.

A rescue was deemed impossible.

– ‘K2 accepted me’ –

At times Vedrines was climbing solo, as well as at record speed.

“I had to forge a little path in the snow and there was this slightly mystical atmosphere that is specific to K2,” he said.

Vedrines left K2’s Advanced Base Camp at 5,350 metres just after midnight, and covered the 3,261 metres to the top before lunchtime the next day.

After making his descent, he spoke to AFP a week later, on Sunday, in the resort town of Skardu — the gateway to northern Pakistan which is home to five of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 metres.

“I feel very grateful that the K2 mountain finally accepted me this year,” said Vedrines.

“It was not a form of revenge but a form of reconciliation.”