Enrico Piconcelli 🇺🇦

On this day, July 31, 1954, 🇮🇹 Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli stood atop K2 (8,611 m)—the first humans ever to reach its summit. It began in 1856, when British surveyor Thomas Montgomerie marked the distant peak simply as K2. For nearly a century, it turned climbers back with avalanches and storms. In 1909, the Duke of the Abruzzi retreated at 6,000 m. Americans climbed higher in 1938 and 1939 but failed. In 1953, Charlie Houston lost teammate Art Gilkey in a storm. Then in1954, Ardito Desio led Italy’s national expedition with 11 climbers and 13 tons of gear. Mario Puchoz died early, but the team pushed on. By late July, Camp VIII was established at 25,400 ft. Compagnoni and Lacedelli were chosen for the summit push. On July 30, Walter Bonatti and Hunza porter Amir Mehdi carried oxygen higher but could not find Camp IX. It was moved. They bivouacked in the open at 8,100 m, frostbitten and barely surviving. At dawn, they descended, leaving the oxygen. Compagnoni and Lacedelli climbed on. ⏱️ At 6:00 p.m. on July 31, they stood on the summit of K2. Italy celebrated, but Bonatti was accused of endangering the summit team. He fought for decades to clear his name, until Lacedelli admitted in 2004 that Camp IX was deliberately moved to keep Bonatti away. K2’s 1954 climb remains one of mountaineering’s greatest climbs and fiercest controversies. The Savage Mountain demanded everything: lives, limbs, reputations. Read: everesttoday.com/from-the-th… Photo ©: Italian Alpine Club Archives.

On this day, July 03, 1953, 🇦🇹 Hermann Buhl became the first ever human to have summited Nanga Parbat (8126 m). A 41-hour solo climb through thin air and avalanche-prone slope, unthinkable then, still legendary now. Read. everesttoday.com/into-the-mi…