70 years ago

What happened on K2? A new look at the first ascent

Erich Abram at base camp. As a mountain expert and refrigerator technician, he was one of the key figures in the expedition.(Bild: Archiv TAP/Fantin „K2 sogno vissuto“)

Alpine history was made on K2 on July 31, 1954. Erich Abram from South Tyrol was one of the climbers. He made a significant contribution to the success of the expedition. Unique pictures from his estate tell the story of the first ascent 70 years ago for the first time in an online exhibition. 

It was a Saturday. At around 6 p.m., Italian mountaineers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reach the second highest peak in the world, K2 (8611 m) in the Karakoram on the border between Pakistan and China.

They were joined by around 500 Pakistani porters. Eleven of Italy's best mountaineers were among the members of the expedition. Among them was Erich Abram from Bolzano, born in Sterzing in 1922. Abram was a gifted climber and climbed many first routes in the Dolomites.

Abram with some porters. They hauled tons of equipment up the mountain.(Bild: Sammlung Abram/TAP)

A total of around twelve tons of equipment - including five kilometers of rope and 230 oxygen cylinders - had to be carried to the base camp at an altitude of almost 5,000 meters and then further up the mountain. 

Erich Abram testing the oxygen equipment. They were crucial for the summit victory.(Bild: Sammlung Abram/TAP)

230 oxygen cylinders were needed
As a refrigeration specialist - his company builds cold stores for fruit - Abram maintains the oxygen cylinders. 230 of them had to be transported up the mountain. Abram himself carries two metal containers, each weighing 18 kilograms, together with Walter Bonatti - another top Italian alpinist - and the local porter Amir Mahdi up to Camp IX at over 8000 meters. The South Tyrolean is responsible for the oxygen in the thin air on the mountain and his work contributes significantly to the success of the first ascent.

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Fotos

The South Tyrolean's achievements were later largely forgotten and are now being honored by the "Tiroler Archiv für photographische Dokumentation und Kunst" (TAP) in Lienz together with the TAP-Süd in an online exhibition.

Online exhibition

The online exhibition will be available from the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of K2 on July 31 at

www.tiroler-photoarchiv.eu

For the first time, photos of the expedition from Erich Abram's private collection will be on display, as well as personal postcards and letters in which he vividly describes the situation in camp and on the mountain.