70 years of the first ascent of K2. The South Tyrolean Erich Abram as a member of the expedition and decisive helper
Erich Abram in front of his tent in Camp VII at almost 7,500 m, with the pennant of the Hochtouristen-Gruppe Bozen/Bolzano (Photographer: Unknown; Erich Abram collection – TAP, L37472)
On Saturday 31 July 1954 at around 6 p.m., the Italian mountaineers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reach the second highest peak in the world, K2 (8,611 m), in the Karakoram on the border between Pakistan and China. They are members of a strategically and militarily planned Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, professor of geology in Milan, who were to conquer K2 for the first time after numerous unsuccessful attempts. Around 500 Pakistani Sherpas and porters are also part of the expedition, carrying the twelve tons of equipment – including five kilometres of rope and 230 oxygen bottles – to the base camp at an altitude of just under 5,000 metres and then further up the mountain.
