The Belay: How an Ice Axe Saved Lives on K2 in 1953

In 1953, the American Karakoram Expedition attempted the first ascent of K2, which at that time was the highest mountain in the world that had not been climbed. Earlier that year, Mount Everest had been climbed on May 29, 1953, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. K2, located approximately 1,400 kilometres northwest of Everest, remained unclimbed. The expedition was led by Charles Houston and Robert Bates.

The climbing team consisted of eight members: Houston, Bates, Art Gilkey, Pete Schoening, George Bell, Tony Streather, Dee Molenaar, and Robert Craig. Houston had previously led a 1938 expedition to K2 that identified the Abruzzi Spur as a possible route. A later 1939 expedition ended with multiple fatalities, which influenced Houston’s emphasis on having a solid team for the 1953 attempt.

Due to political conditions following the partition of India, Sherpa were not allowed to work in Pakistan. As a result, the team carried all loads themselves and used no supplemental oxygen. Supplies were moved through repeated carries to establish camps along the route. By Aug. 1, 1953, the team had reached Camp VIII at approximately 7,800 metres.

In early August, severe storms affected the upper mountain. On Aug. 7, Gilkey collapsed outside his tent at Camp VIII. Houston diagnosed him with thrombophlebitis, a blood clot condition that posed a high risk of pulmonary embolism at altitude. The team decided to abandon the summit attempt and begin a descent to evacuate Gilkey.

Weather conditions delayed immediate descent. On Aug. 10, with Gilkey’s condition worsening, the team began descending during the storm. Gilkey was unable to walk and was placed in a makeshift stretcher constructed from a sleeping bag, rope, and tent fabric. The team lowered him toward Camp VII, which was approximately 500 metres

During the descent, the team reached a traverse across a steep icy slope. George Bell was leading, roped to Tony Streather. The remaining climbers, Houston, Bates, Molenaar, and Gilkey, were all clipped into the same rope. One rope, seven climbers. Pete Schoening was positioned at the rear, belaying and managing Gilkey’s stretcher line.

Bell slipped on hard ice and fell. Streather was pulled off balance, followed by the remaining climbers as the rope came tight. Six climbers were pulled off the slope and began sliding downward together. Schoening, who was anchored only by his ice axe and body position, wrapped the rope around the shaft of his ice axe and his waist. He then braced himself and arrested the fall.

Schoening stopped the six falling climbers, which allowed them to regain control and stand up. No anchors beyond the ice axe were in place. This event became known as “The Belay.” If it wasn’t for Shoening’s quick thinking, he and the other six climbers likely wouldn’t have survived.

After the fall, the team regrouped and continued to Camp VII. Gilkey was anchored to the slope while tents were prepared. When Bates and Streather returned to retrieve him, Gilkey was no longer present. Evidence at the site suggested he had been carried away by a small avalanche. Some team members later believed Gilkey may have unclipped himself from the anchor, but no definitive conclusion was reached. Houston believed Gilkey “wiggled himself loose from the line” to save the team from risking their lives.

The team remained at Camp VII until conditions improved and then descended over several days to Base Camp. Multiple members suffered injuries, including frostbite and broken ribs. The expedition ended without a summit attempt.

In 1993, Gilkey’s remains were discovered near K2 Base Camp by a British expedition, exposed by glacial movement. Pete Schoening’s ice axe from the 1953 expedition is preserved and displayed at the American Mountaineering Museum in Golden, Colorado. The Belay is one of the most famous events in mountaineering history. Schoening was awarded the David A. Sowles Memorial Award by the American Alpine Club in 1981.

Before leaving the area, the team built a memorial to Gilkey, which is still present. The first ascent of K2 came by an Italian expedition in 1954. For more on the 1953 expedition, check out K2: The Savage Mountain.