Chinese climber Guan Jing dies after rockfall on K2 descent

A Chinese woman mountaineer, Guan Jing, was killed on Tuesday night after being struck by falling rocks while descending from the summit of K2, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred on the Abruzzi Spur route between Camp I and Advanced Base Camp — a section notorious for frequent rockfalls — a day after Guan summited the 8,611-metre peak with a group of climbers. She was part of a 15-member Imagine Nepal team that reached the top at 3:32pm Pakistan time on Aug 11.

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ACP Vice President Karrar Haidri said recovery efforts for her body were under way, while other climbers from the summit push were returning safely to base camp. In total, more than 27 climbers reached K2’s summit on Monday.

This is the third deadly incident in Gilgit-Baltistan’s climbing season. On July 28, former German Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier died on Lailla Peak (6,096m) after being struck by rockfall. Earlier, on July 18, Pakistani climber Muhammad Iftikhar Hussain was killed in an avalanche at Camp I on K2, while two others escaped unhurt. On July 4, Czech mountaineer Klára Kolouchová, 46, fell to her death on Nanga Parbat.