Watching this tense video is a real “Will it? Won’t it?” nail biter. It captures the moment when an avalanche caused by a serac splitting off above the camp of a team of K2 climbers causes an avalanche that threatens to engulf their tents.
The team includes Italian climbers Federico Secchi and Marco Majori, who spent the summer climbing Broad Peak (26,414ft) and K2 (the world’s second-highest mountain at 28,251ft) without supplemental oxygen. The plan was for them to summit each then ski down both in their entirety. They both managed that on Broad Peak, but bad weather meant only Secchi conquered K2 (at the very end of July) with Majori having to turn back frustratingly close to the peak. The ski descent was abandoned, even though Secchi had his skis with him.
