Krisli Melesk, who conquered K2: this is totally different from Mount Everest

Krisli Melesk was the second Estonian after Andras Kaasik to carry the Estonian tricolor to the top of K2 mountain, 8611 meters above sea level. Photo: Erakogu

• The decision to climb K2 had to be made within two days.
• The emotions were more precious than the experience of Mount Everest.
• She still has three peaks to go to join the Seven Summits Club.

The achievement of Krisli Melesk, who reached the top of the worlds second-highest mountain, the 8,611-meter K2, quickly reached the public through the media, but the world traveler herself remained elusive. The reason was simple: Melesk kept in touch with her relatives and friends through messaging service using a satellite device had no access to high-quality internet in the mountains.

However, Postimees managed to keep in touch with Melesk and was therefore informed of her activities. The conversation with Estonia's most successful female mountaineer took place exactly one week after returning from K2, when the 36-year-old world traveler arranged her return flight from Pakistan's capital Islamabad to Tallinn after the long adventure.

But let us rewind the time a bit more here. The offer to go with the Madison Mountaineering expedition group to K2 reached Melesk at the very last moment. Before that, the woman who had climbed Aconcagua in Argentina this February considered the option of a summer mountain hike in Pakistan.

Krisli Melesk, Estonia's most successful female mountaineer, has set her sights on the so-called Seven Summits club. Photo: Terray Sylvester

She had discussed K2 with the leaders of Madison Mountaineering, but it turned out that their group was already complete by that moment. «It was a special situation, because they only had four customers, headed by one gentleman, who also booked all the other places so as to form a tight and strong group,» Melesk recalled.

Fit for climbing within one month

«They gave me no hope at first and said that the group had been formed until suddenly in May I received a message that there was a place available,» said Melesk, who at that moment was on duty on a luxury yacht anchored in the state of Georgia, USA. She was given two days to decide because there were other interested parties. «I did not have the necessary money at hand but I thought that to the hell with it, I'd like to go, because this is a very special opportunity,» said Melesk. «I said yes, and only then began to deal with the rest – the financial side, physical preparation and everything else. But this is typical of me,» she laughed.

A hasty organization and preparation followed. Melesk was determined to achieve sufficient physical fitness over the remaining weeks, first by practicing on her own and later by following the tips of a personal trainer. For a while, she also went to Estonia to pack her equipment and do some more training. Within a month since receiving the happy news, the adventurous woman landed in Pakistan.

Before ascending to the high mountains, they underwent advance preparation and acclimatization in the location, which was completed in the early days of July. By that moment, only two of the four climbers in their group had remained there: Melesk and Nelly Attar from Lebanon. However, the two men decided to abandon the undertaking. One suffered from health problems while the other decided to stay with the friend out of solidarity.

The long-awaited ascent to the summit began on July 18. Melesk recalled that since all the focus was on a successful performance, sometimes it was difficult even to remember the day of the month or week.

Melesk reached the summit of K2 one hour after midnight on July 22 as the first Estonian woman, and returned to the base camp already in the evening of the same day. «When I descended, my face looked like I had never been anywhere. Maybe the lips were a little dry. Maybe it sounds somewhat silly but for me K2 was a much greater mountain and a more intense experience than Mount Everest,» Melesk said. «I felt good all the time, although I was a little nervous before that. At some point, when the others encouraged me, the worry disappeared. The weather was also great during the first rotation (acclimatization) – completely blue sky. In general, there was only one day where the weather was such that you couldn't see anything due to the snowfall, and in the morning there was a very strong wind, which later subsided.»

While Melesk's group had to defy worse weather conditions at some moment, which forced the climbers to wait, everything went all right again with the weather for the summit rotation. According to Melesk, a large number of climbers were still waiting for suitable conditions to climb to the summit; their group therefore decided to start climbing early in the morning around five or six o'clock. «This was in order to avoid the hazard caused by stones rolling down from under the feet of other climbers. Although there were other climbers besides us at the same time, we were still very successful because of this decision,» she said.

You need to have respect

Melesk reached the summit of K2 in total darkness a little more than an hour after midnight according to Estonian time. She pulled out the Estonian flag for photo captures and enjoyed the special moments for about half an hour. «We delayed a little there so that we could see at least some ray of light. We took the last pictures at the moment when the bright sky started to peek out a little. On the way down the mountain, we saw the sunrise, but I cannot say that I got the same amazing emotion at the summit as on Mount Everest, where there was blue sky all around. Reaching the top in the dark was of course a completely different feeling, but I still felt happy – here I am! – although before I began, I was not sure whether I can do it at all,» Melesk recalled.

Quite unexpectedly for herself, Krisli Melesk had the opportunity to go on the K2 expedition, the peak of which he successfully conquered. Photo: Erakogu

«It's one thing to go up, but quite another to come down. This is a completely different matter. I was a bit too worried, but I think it is better than to rush in with excess confidence because that is not right in the mountains. You have to feel respect but in the end everything went easier,» she said and praised their small, but very close-knit team, which could be compared with a sort of family.

«The stars of our team were three Sherpas who together with two Sherpas from another team put up the summit ropes. They reached the summit when we started our ascent there. Without them, it would have been very hard. The rest of the climbers who were on the mountain at the same time only reached the summit thanks to them. Of course, without singling out anyone, I have to say that the eleven Sherpas in our team were all very strong and formed a united team,» Melesk praised.

Which peaks does Estonia's most successful female climber dream of next? These are Elbrus, Carstensz and Vinson, or the highest mountains of different continents, which together with Everest, Aconcagua, Denali and Kilimanjaro belong to the so-called Seven Summits Club. Melesk cannot yet say whether and in what order this journey will proceed towards making her dream come true. A lot depends on how she manages to collect the amount of money needed for the expeditions, which reaches tens of thousands of euros.

According to her, there are other options as well. «These plans come up here all the time when you meet someone and talk, but I'm still thinking about it,» she smiled.

Estonian women are great

Andras Kaasik, the first Estonian to reach the summit of K2 four years ago, said that women endure very well the difficult conditions prevailing in the mountains, which is why he never once doubted that Krisli Melesk will succeed.

«There was no doubt about her physical and mental side. It was rather the weather conditions which could have become decisive,» said Kaasik, who had already congratulated Melesk, and added: «Krisli is a strong girl. Great!»

According to him, the fact that Melesk’s group had more backup does not diminish the value of the conquest. «You still have to carry the oxygen cylinder. And it does not matter if there are one or three escorts, because no one will carry you to the summit in their arms,» Kaasik said. «It was probably easier for the support group because they could share ropes and some equipment, but having more Sherpas did not make it any easier for Krisli.»

Andras Kaasik said that mountaineers have succeeded in conquering K2 ever earlier in the last few years. He added that to some extent it has been thanks to the favorable «window», which arrived earlier than usual, when the weather conditions allow to climb to the summit. «While the summit was usually assaulted in the end of July, it now happened ten days earlier. Maybe it is due to greater experience and also larger number of groups, which makes logistics easier in terms of camps, constructing paths and setting up ropes.»

Kaasik noted that a larger number of climbers also creates an opposite danger, as there need not be enough good camp sites to set up tents higher on the mountain. «Actually, [the large number of mountaineers] makes the situation significantly more difficult,» he said. «It is one thing if there are 20-30 people on the mountain, but it's quite another if there are a hundred of them, because this causes congestion and as a result things can escalate towards the worse – if someone should fall ill or have mountain sickness, how to get them down from there? It is not really possible to share the ropes there.»

Andras Kaasik called this year very successful for Estonian alpinism. Women is the key word. At the same time as Melesk climbed K2, Priit Joosu's group, which included Krista Kirspuu, Lauri Ehrenpreis and Ain Rästa, was in action on Gasherbrum II (8,034 m) in the Karakoram mountain range and reached the summit. Marie Saame conquered the summit of Broad Peak (8,051).