Kiwi claims mountain first
BRAVING DANGEROUS WEATHER AND trekking solo, Marty Schmidt became the first New Zealander to reach the summit of Malaku – the world’s fifth-highest mountain – without oxygen.
After his partner became sick, the Christchurch-based adventurer decided to attempt the summit alone – en route saving the life of another climber – before he completed the 8485 m ascent at 3 p.m. on 24 May.
Marty, a pofessional mountain guide, teamed up with Chris Warner for the expedition. Initially, they suffered set back after set back; the original objective – the unclimbed South Buttress – was in terrible shape and any attempt to climb it could have led to disaster.
The duo changed their plans and set their sights on Malaku, part of the Himalayas, but then the weather worsened, which kept the team trapped in their tents for days. They then made their first summit attempt, but were forced off the mountain when Chris became sick. Following a successful rescue, Marty decided to pursue a solo attempt.
After days of battling through fresh snow and time spent aiding a Ukrainian climber down to safer ground (and by doing so saving his life), Marty reached the summit.
“The long summit ridge traverse worked for me and as I was climbing around the false summit pyramid the clouds started to open up and it kept clearing as I climbed towards the last few steps onto the summit, it was 1500 hours,” he says. “What a magical moment, seeing the world open up all its beauty in a few minutes.”
Shortly after completing the climb, Marty made his way safely back to Base Camp. After this trek is Gasherbrum I and II (mountains located on the Pakistan/China border).
Scaling Malaku is said to be an elusive and highly technical feat; it has been summitted just 323 times.
