In a rare and daring solo ascent, French climber Serge Hardy claimed to have reached the summit of Mount K2 (8,611 m) on August 12—just one day after more than two dozen climbers made rare August summits.

Hardy recounted his experience in a Facebook post published Sunday, revealing that his was the final successful summit of the season. With minimal support, no shared summit strategy, and critical gear damaged by birds, Hardy became the only person to stand on K2’s summit that day.

While multiple teams retreated due to worsening forecasts, Hardy—supported only up to Base Camp by a small Pakistani agency—remained behind as others abandoned their climbs.

As he prepared for his summit push, Hardy faced not only harsh conditions but also a breakdown in cooperation between teams, particularly with larger Nepali-led commercial expeditions.

“The ‘boss’ even described us as ‘parasites’ on social media,” Hardy wrote. “We had offered to carry 200 meters of rope and share weather forecasts—only to be met with angry refusals.”

Hardy was referring to a post by Nepali mountaineer Mingma Gyalje Sherpa also known as Mingma G, who led the rope-fixing team on K2 this season, used the term "parasite" in an Instagram post:

“K2 Expedition 2025 is at an interesting mode. Some teams already left base camp, and most of the teams are waiting here. Most teams are here with good preparation, and some parasite teams are here without ropes. We know their posts if they make it to the summit (no Sherpa support, no oxygen, blah blah 🤩🤩).”

Even the best-equipped teams had begun to abandon their attempts after a month-long wait at Base Camp. Still, Mingma G remained confident that his group would summit on August 11—and they did, with around 30 climbers reaching the top that day.

Hardy described his climb was far from smooth. Upon reaching Camp 2, he discovered that crows had destroyed his tent and shredded much of his gear. Fortunately, climbers from Madison Mountaineering lent him a Pakistani military down jacket and a spare sleeping bag—crucial items that enabled him to continue.

With limited acclimatization at higher altitudes, Hardy reluctantly decided to carry a single bottle of supplemental oxygen—a choice he believes may have saved him from frostbite or worse.

“I really wanted to hang it on a rock,” he admitted. But when he turned it on at Camp 4, the effect was dramatic: “In 30 seconds, I turned into Superman.”

Early on August 12, under clear skies, Hardy set out from Camp 4 and climbed the treacherous Bottleneck section with speed. By late morning, he stood completely alone on the summit of K2—one of the deadliest and least-soloed mountains in the world.

“I am alone, all alone at the top of K2,” he wrote in a now-viral Facebook post.

Having reached Camp 3 safely during the descend, oxygen running low but manageable, Hardy began exit from the “death zone.” Yet this year, death had descended far lower — it crept into the camps.

From Camp 2, Hardy was warned: avoid Camp 1 — a fatal accident, injured climbers, tension brewing. A descent that usually takes two hours stretched into three as frozen ropes clung to rock. Camp 1 was eerily still, but he pushed through. Japanese Camp — 5600m — greeted him with a hail of stones and the body of a fallen climber.

Chinese climber Guan Jing died on the night of August 12 on the Abruzzi Spur after being struck by falling rock during her descent.

Then everything broke — quite literally. A rope snapped. Hardy fell. A ten-meter slide stopped by instinct, metal, and raw nerve. Bleeding, dazed, he crawled behind a rock while stones attacked in swarms.

Salvation came as figures emerged on an alternate path — fellow climbers, reaching out, pulling him from the crossfire. At the base camp, Khadim the cook arranged what Hardy now needed most: a mule.

And that mule, brave and indifferent, carried him home — until it didn’t. The only way out: a helicopter from Concordia. The next day, finally, the skies opened.