Photo Gallery Tragic Experience on K2
Austria's Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has summited 13 of the world's 14 highest mountains, the so-called 8,000ers (for above 8,000 meters or 26,250 feet). In early August, Kaltenbrunner chose to abort her attempt at summiting K2, the 14th, after her climbing partner, Fredrik Ericsson, fell 1,000 meters to his death.
K2 is the worlds second-highest mountain after Mount Everest, at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet). It lies in the Karakoram range, on the Chinese-Pakistani border.
The attempt in August was Kaltenbrunners third. An earlier attempt in 2010 was called off due to poor weather conditions and the danger of falling rocks. This photo shows her on Gasherbrum in the Karakoram range.
Kaltenbrunner (seen here with her husband Ralf Dujmovits, who is also a top climber) is among the worlds top-three female mountain climbers. The other two, Spains Edurne Pasaban and South Koreas Oh Eun-sun, have summited all of the 8,000ers.
"I have a huge amount of respect for this mountain," Kaltenbrunner told SPIEGEL, referring to K2. "But I'm not afraid of it."
epa Ho/ picture alliance / dpa
