Last weekend, a team of 10 Nepalese climbers summited K2, the world's second-tallest mountain, for the first time in winter. K2 is considered a significantly more difficult climb than Everest, even in the regular spring climbing season. It is also among the world's most dangerous mountains to climb...one person has died for roughly every 4 people who have successfully summited (for comparison's sake, that ratio is about 1 to 20 for Everest). K2 is the last of the "8000ers," the world's 14 mountains that are 8000 meters or more in height, to be summited in winter. Last weekend's success is rightly being hailed as one of the great achievements ever in mountaineering or any other physical human pursuit.
This super high-level mountaineering stuff has long fascinated me...I'm transfixed by the scale and the stakes of it all, and I can't fathom why anyone would undertake those risks for what is essentially an extremely expensive and dangerous hobby for all but a very select few people who make a living doing it.