Despite significant delays caused by harsh weather and a rare summit window, over two dozen climbers successfully reached the summit of Mount K2 at approximately 3:30 PM local time on Monday, expedition organizers confirmed.

The summit push was led by renowned Nepali mountaineer Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, popularly known as Mingma G, alongside a seasoned rope-fixing team that opened the route under challenging late-season conditions.

The successful ascent marks one of the rare August summits of the world's second-highest peak—the last recorded in 2011 by Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner.

This summit marks Mingma G’s sixth successful ascent of K2, tying the record for the most ascents of the mountain, set by fellow Nepali climber Mingma David Sherpa.

Mingma David had aimed for a record-breaking seventh ascent this season but withdrew in late July after enduring nearly a month at Base Camp amid unrelenting bad weather.

While several climbers abandoned their attempts, Mingma G remained optimistic. When Everest Chronicle asked whether K2 might go unclimbed this season while he was on the base camp on early August, he responded, “We have enough time to attempt the peak. We have a climbing permit until August 26, but we will go for summit push on August 10.”

He continued to share updates on rope fixing, climbing rotations, and weather conditions via Instagram, eventually guiding his team to the summit on the date he had planned.

According to Imagine Nepal, Mingma G’s expedition company, the team left Base Camp on August 5 after identifying a potential weather window. Over six days, they advanced through progressively higher camps, resting at Camp 3 on August 9 and 10 as Sherpa teams completed rope fixing above.

A total of 2,400 meters of rope was installed on the route, 1,400 meters of which was fixed by the Imagine Nepal team, the company claimed.

The summit effort was a joint undertaking with Madison Mountaineering and Elite Exped, supported by IFMGA guide Prakash Gurung, Sherpas from Elite Exped, and Adventure Consultants.

The expedition operator said the successful summit team included, Romanian Maria Alexandra Danila, who became the first Romanian to summit K2, Chinese Dilixiati Ailikuti, setting a new record as the youngest climber to reach K2's summit.

Similarly, Jangbu Sherpa and Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi completed the ascent without supplemental oxygen.

Five Nepali guides and five foreign climbers from Seven Summit Treks also stood atop the Savage Mountain.

The 2025 climbing season on K2 has been unusually difficult, dominated by persistent jet stream winds that left most teams stranded at Base Camp for extended periods. While snow conditions remained stable, the lack of favorable summit windows forced many expeditions to abandon their plans.

During the long downtime, Mingma G’s team conducted critical route maintenance, replacing damaged plastic ropes and reinforcing sections prone to rockfall below Camp 1—efforts that benefited all teams on the mountain.

Mingma G is the first Nepali climber to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks without using supplemental oxygen. He also reached the true summit of Manaslu, sparking renewed debate about the accuracy of past summit records on that peak.

With this week’s successful ascent, his team secures a rare and hard-fought victory in one of K2’s most difficult seasons in recent memory.