Less than a week after scaling Mount Gasherbrum II (8,034m) Norwegian climber Kristin Harila along with her climbing companions, Pasdawa Sherpa and Dawa Ongju Sherpa, scaled Gasherbrum I (8080m).
They reached the GI summit at 7:15 am local Pakistan time, according to Pemba Sherpa, founder of 8K Expedition, her outfitter. They are the first ones to reach the summit of GI this season.
This was the trio’s 11th 8000er in the past four months.
Kristin wants to scale all 14 peaks above 8000m in 6 months – similar to the record set by Nirmal Purja aka Nimsdai. Through her 14 peaks mission, Kristin wants to show that women are equally competent climbers capable of achieving any mountaineering feat.
With successful GI summit, Kristin is set to begin the third phase of her mission, her outfitter 8K Expedition said.
Most of the climbers have already postponed their expedition in Karakorum for this year as the weather was getting warmer. However, Kristin and her companions continued climbing for the record.
According to Pemba, Kristin will be climbing Mount Manaslu in Nepal before trying Shishapangma and Cho Oyu, both of which are climbed from Tibet.
She has been a little behind schedule in summiting Karakoram peaks. Purja had scaled all Karakoram mountains above 8,000m within July.
Kristin scaled all peaks above 8,000m in Nepal ahead of Nimsdai. She also scaled Mount Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak ahead of him, setting records on her way. Kristin’s expedition has fallen behind in Gasherbrum summits after her K2 summit.
The long delay in Nanga Parbat and Broad peak for this year has been blamed on the weather. There was continuous snowfall, which stopped the mountaineers in basecamps for weeks. This delayed the summits of K2, GI and GII.
Kristin, who holds multiple world records, has also become the first female climber to scale 11 eight-thousanders in a record time. She achieved this feat in 106 days.
