Home > News

Spanish Climber Sergi Mingote Dies in Fall on K2

The elite Spanish climber fell over 500 metres while descending from camp one

Spanish climber Sergi Mingote died while descending from K2 on Jan. 16. The mountaineer from Catalan was making his way down from camp one to advanced base camp when he fell. His GPS shows a fall of over 500 metres.

The tragice news comes as the world celebrates the first winter ascent of K2 by 10 Nepalese Sherpas. Read more about the historic climb here. Mingote, 49, was hoping to climb the world’s highest peaks without supplementary oxygen.

The veteran Himalayan climber had climbed seven 8,000-metre peaks without supplemantary oxygen: Everest from Tibet in 2001 and from Nepal in 2003, Broad Peak, K2 and Manaslu in 2018, and Lhotse, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum II and Dhaulagiri in 2019.

According to a report from Chhang Dawa Sherpa: “Alex Gavan, Tamara and two other Polish climbers gave him help in ABC, we sent medical team from base camp but unfortunately could not save him anymore. We where informed by unexpected movement on his gps tracker and could see he made a big fall, members at the site quickly confirmed the accident, but couldn’t do much to help him anymore. Deep condolences.”

Salvador Illa, minister of health and friend of the mountaineer, said, “Shocked by the news of the accident that has ended the life of a magnificent sportsman, former socialist mayor of Parets and personal friend. A hug and all my love to Sergi Mingote’s family and friends.”

 

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The Best Climbing Gear According to Our Editors – October

Every month we're bringing you our favourite gear so you can complete your climbing kit with the latest and best stuff out there