“Sad Death of Sergi Mingote on K2,” Sanchez tweeted. “He wanted to continue making history by being part of the first expedition to crown this mountain in the middle of winter and a tragic accident ended his life. A big hug to the loved ones of this amazing athlete. “
Part of the Karakoram Range that straddles the border between Pakistan and China, K2 is the second highest mountain in the world at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet).
A post on Mingote’s official Instagram account said, “Rest in peace, Sergi. Today you are embarking on a new climb.”
Just a day earlier, the mountaineer had shared a message announcing that he was on day 27 of his climb and had reached 7,000 meters.
Chhang Dawa Sherpa, a Nepalese mountaineer who leads the K2 winter expedition, said on Instagram that Mingote “fell suddenly.”
“We [were] Being aware of unexpected movements on his GPS tracker and seeing that he had taken a major fall, the site members quickly confirmed the accident but couldn’t do much more to help him, ”said Sherpa.
A ‘Savage Mountain’
K2 is located in the Karakoram Range, home to the largest concentration of high mountains in the world.
The summit is known to mountaineers for its difficulty and has been nicknamed “Savage Mountain” as a tribute to its brutal nature.
Compared to the more than 4,000 people who have climbed Mount Everest – the world’s highest mountain at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) – as of 2018, only 350 people have stood on top of K2 since the first summit in 1954.
While few have climbed K2, at least 77 people have died attempting to climb the climb.
A team of 10 Nepalese climbers did reach the top of K2 on Saturday, Nirmal Purja, one of the climbers, announced in a post on Instagram.