The history of Kyrgyz climbers associated with the conquest of K2 is full of tragedies. The President of the Federation of Mountaineering of Kyrgyzstan, Eduard Kubatov, shared in a podcast with the Kabar agency that Kyrgyzstanis have attempted to ascend this mountain three times, but in the first two attempts, they were unable to reach even the 7000-meter mark and were forced to turn back.
In 2004, one of the outstanding climbers of the country, international class sports master Alexander Gubaev, made an ascent to the summit of K2 with oxygen, but unfortunately, he perished upon reaching the goal.
Kubatov shared his own experiences: “I have tried to climb multiple times and felt as if I was dying myself. But when I reached the summit, I decided to dedicate this victory to the independence of my country and all the great Kyrgyz climbers. At the summit, I also lacked oxygen, and in moments of weakness, I searched for Alexander Gubaev, asking those around me about him. I realized that my head was spinning and told myself, ‘Come back to yourself.’ After that, I dedicated my victory to the great climbers and began my descent,” he recounted.
Furthermore, Eduard Kubatov noted that during the ascent, climbers do not congratulate each other at the summit. “This is because 80% of fatalities occur during the descent. Only upon reaching the base camp can you see someone crying, someone silent, and someone unable to believe that all of this actually happened,” he added.
