On the notoriously unforgiving slopes of Mount K2 (8,611m), Siddhi Bahadur Tamang has not only added a seventh successful summit to his mountaineering record but also staged one of the fastest descents of the season—escaping what would later become a fatal day on the world’s second-highest mountain.

Last year, Tamang made history by summiting K2 twice within 24 hours, equalizing a record of the most ascent of K2 with Mingma Gyabu Sherpa. A multiple record holder Mingma abandoned his seventh attempt to summit K2 this season due to prolonged wait and deteriorating weather condition of the mountain.

Tamang, a rope-fixing team member this season, reached the summit of K2 ahead of most teams. More notably, he descended from the peak to base camp in less than 12 hours—an extraordinary feat under the best of conditions. But for Tamang, the rush was driven by an urgent deadline.

“My permit for the national park was expiring. I had to leave by August 13,” he explained. That haste, it turns out, may have saved his life. Climbers who summited just hours after him on August 11 were caught in a rockfall, injuring several and killing Chinese mountaineer Guan Jing. She became the second casualty on K2 this season, following the death of a Pakistani climber Iftikhar Hussain last month.

Tamang’s rope-fixing efforts began on August 10, when he joined the Imagine Nepal team at Camp II. The team had already fixed lines just below Camp III. While Mingma Gyalje Sherpa—known widely as Mingma G—urged Tamang to rest, the veteran climber pushed on. “I felt strong enough to go higher,” Tamang said.

He was soon joined by fellow climbers Vinayak Jaya Malla and Tsering Sherpa. Mingma G suggested a lesser-used shortcut from Camp III to Camp IV—a route he pioneered during the historic winter ascent of K2 in 2021. “It shortened the route by at least 300 meters,” Tamang noted.

After a brief one-hour rest at Camp IV, the team continued toward the summit. As Tamang and Malla reached the notorious Bottleneck, Mingma G again stepped in. “You must be exhausted. I’ll take over,” Mingma told him. But Tamang, fueled by urgency, rejoined the team soon after and helped open the route to the summit by 3 PM local time.

No rest awaited Tamang at the summit. Knowing his time inside the national park was limited, he began his descent immediately. He sprinted down the mountain, leaving his teammates behind, reaching base camp by 3 PM — a 12-hour round trip few would attempt.

Without resting at base camp, Tamang grabbed his belongings and continued trekking, crossing the 5,585-meter Gondogoro La Pass. By 10 AM the next day, he had exited the national park—just in time.

“My friends were waiting outside. They were not celebrating my record, but happy to see me arrive on time, and alive,” he said, adding, “We are guests in another country. No matter the reason, I couldn’t afford to explain why I missed the permit deadline.”

From the summit push to his exit from the national park, Tamang walked non-stop for three days and three nights. After a day of rest in Skardu, he flew to Islamabad to catch his return flight to Nepal.

“Sometimes we achieve things only because of the pressure we are under,” he reflected.

Tamang’s journey to becoming a high-altitude climber is as inspiring as his mountain feats. Born in Gongar, Dolakha district of Nepal, he began as a porter in the late 1990s. In 2001, he traveled to Ladakh for seasonal work, earning Rs 1,000 a day as a kitchen helper. “They called it a banjada job—nomadic work,” he said. That’s where he learned rock climbing and river crossing.

“They saw my enthusiasm and started involving me in technical tasks,” he recalled. He worked in Ladakh for three years before moving into trekking and mountaineering.

Despite his strong resume—multiple summits of Everest, Lhotse, Manaslu, Cho Oyu, and K2—Tamang’s career has had its share of setbacks. During the 2016 K2 expedition, an avalanche swept away essential supplies and ropes from Camp III, forcing an early end to the season. “We were fortunate to survive,” he recalled, “but I was heartbroken not to reach the summit.”

K2’s unpredictable weather and rockfall-prone terrain often turn routine climbs into life-threatening challenges. This year, it was worse. “It was a dry season. Constant rockfall cut our ropes. If it had snowed even a little, we would have faced avalanches,” Tamang said. “Camp I and Camp II were the most dangerous.”

One of Tamang’s most harrowing experiences came in 2010 during his first 8,000-meter summit—Cho Oyu—which he climbed without supplemental oxygen, alongside a French client.

“My brain was working, but my body wasn’t responding,” he said. “We had one emergency oxygen bottle, and I saved it for the client,” he recalled, “He kept asking how I was doing, and I kept saying I was fine—but I wasn’t. I was barely able to walk across the plains above Camp III. As the guide, I should have been the one asking how he was doing.”

He later summited Manaslu without oxygen. “It becomes significantly harder. But the satisfaction is unmatched.”

Tamang, who has two daughters and a son, admits it’s never easy convincing his family to let him return to Pakistan’s “Savage Mountain.” But the mountain still calls.

“What options do we have?” he asked. “When friends are preparing to leave, I tell myself—it’s just 45 days. I can’t hold myself back.”