Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: After her two failures due to adverse weather, world renowned British-American mountaineer Vanessa O’Brien is going for a third attempt at scaling K-2 with her 20 other colleagues.

Talking to reporters, Vanessa said: “I am sure that the ending of this adventure will be very fruitful and happy.”

She recalled that in 2015 mother nature had delivered an unseasonably warm year with El Nino. “While last year, I and my colleagues encountered a surprise in the form of an avalanche that swooped in on us and buried all of our equipment and supplies,” she said.

Vanessa maintained that each year, they had progressed further. “We made it to camp 2 in 2015 and camp 3 in 2016. So I believe that it might be camp 4 and summit in 2017,” she said. She said that Pakistan had spectacular natural beauty.

“Who in this room would have guessed that Pakistan will be Asia’s best performing stock market in 2016? It continues to be a country with a low cost of borrowing, stable currency and high growth rates,” she said.

Vanessa said that she had received great hospitality from the people of Pakistan.

She said that as per handouts given by Gilgit Baltistan Tourism secretary, the number of tourists in the area had jumped to 1 million in 2016.

Vanessa further added that there might be 160 peaks above 7,000 meters that were clearly visible from space.

While sharing her past experience of the mountain, she said that the area had the most ice outside the north and southern poles. “The longest glaciers are also there,” she said. She expressed her determination to succeed in her third attempt. Vanessa said that she was also very delighted to carry the UN women’s flag in her bid to summit the K-2. “The flags of the UK, US and Pakistan are all equally important to show friendship, peace and solidarity,” she said.

Vanessa said that her team comprised people of various nationalities, including Chinese, Americans, Icelanders, Norwegian and Singaporean.