Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima missing on K2

Two of the world's premier mountaineers, Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima of Japan, were reported as missing yesterday on K2. The pair had set off four days ago and were attempting to establish a new route alpine-style on the mountain's huge west face, first climbed with the use of fixed ropes in 2007 by a large Russian expedition led by Viktor Kozlov.

It is believed they pair fell at around 7500m. According to initial reports, two Pakistani military helicopters spotted two bodies yesterday but after determining that there was no movement, returned to Skardu. Although at present there is no official confirmation from Japanese sources regarding the names of the climbers, it is a well-known fact that Hiraide and Nakajima were the only climbers operating on the mountain's West Face.

Hiraide and Nakajima are extremely accomplished mountaineers and many of their ascents had received international acclaim, with Hiraide having won three Piolets d’Or, Nakajima two. Hiraide's first was awarded in 2009 after climbing the SE Face of Kamet (7756m) in India in 2008 with his wife Kei Taniguchi, who perished in 2015 with climbing Mt. Kuro in Japan.

Despite this terrible loss Hiraide continued pushing the boundaries of high altitude mountaineering and in late 2017 teamed up with Nakajima to complete the hugely impressive, seven-day alpine style ascent of the NW Face of Shispare (7611m), which netted them the Piolet d'Or in 2018. One year later the pair committed to six bivouacs while climbing the South Face and SE Ridge of Rakaposhi in Pakistan. Once again their climb was awarded with the world's most prestigious mountaineering prize.