The TRAGIC solo ascent of K2 via the Magic Line

There are many routes on K2. One of them is the Magic Line, a dangerous route along K2’s south-southwest ridge that climbers regarded as the most difficult challenge of the 1980s. Reinhold Messner named it the Magic Line in 1979. The first attempts at this incredibly difficult route were made in the summer of 1979.
Italian mountaineer, Renato Casarotto, couldn't climb K2 via the Magic Line in 1979 due to rift in their team. Reinhold Messner wanted to climb K2 via the Abruzzi Spur while Casarotto wanted to scale it through the Magic Line. Casarotto was so obsessed with the Magic Line that he came back to K2 in 1986, this time with his wife Goretta. He wanted to solo the long, unclimbed south south-west ridge, with a slight deviation to the right in the upper part.
This is his story !
Thank you all so much for watching. If you liked this video, please leave a like and comment and if you are new here, consider subscribing to the channel for more videos to come.
References
publications.am...
explorersweb.c...
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www.alpinejour...
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Music
Track: Kingdom
Composer: Whitesand
#RenatoCasarotto #MagicLine #K2
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[@carlswenson5403]

Having met and spoken with several people who have summited K2, as well as studied its history extensively myself, I will simply say that you've done a great job with this topic. 👍👍

[@algojeff]

Great video on one hell of an alpine climber! Jim Curran’s relation of 1986 summer is such a awakening book. The Magic Line will always be for out-of-this-world climbers and that’s perfectly ok. Carominas an co. dedicated their expedition for the greatest mountaineer ever, Walter Bonatti. RIP italian legends.

[@Georgeanne17]

I enjoy your channel so much. Your videos not only pay wonderful tribute to these incredible mountaineers but are put together well. Your stories are engaging and make us realize the amazing feats accomplished. K2 is my favorite mountain. Only a few have lived to tell the tale. This mountain is King of all mountains.

[@epicadventurearchives]

Thanks

[@adler923]

Very, very interesting video! Excellent job of showing the magic line, which I always was curious about (it looks like Messner was right about that line - too dangerous for most people). Your channel is now my favorite high altitude climbing channel. You don't copy other people's videos, you state the facts, the stats, the years, the names, you show the routes, and you don't sensationalize the expeditions without warrant. Thank you for the hard work on these videos - it has paid off! You get to the interesting points about the climbers and their personalities beautifully and with grace. I appreciate it.

[@epicadventurearchives]

Thanks for your positive feedback.

[@foggy808]

Great content man this channel deserves more views

[@adler923]

I know! Right? It's my favorite high-altitude climbing channel! I'm so glad it came up in my feed!

[@darksoul479]

Have you ever noticed that there's no black mountain climbers, I wonder why?

[@shahidhussainkhan4827]

Great Job for describing the efforts of great climbers

[@chris5942]

Altitude sickness laughs at experience.

[@azric33]

Your videos are awesome man, keep it up. Disaster/informative/storytelling style documentary videos are great.

[@PoloABD]

My understanding was that there are a couple of other mountains that are now overtaking K2 in terms of death rate. I think it was Annapurna and Kanchenjunga, but may be wrong.

[@charliekezza]

I wonder if it's because people now know how hard K2 is so they do the others but are just as unprepared as some of Everest climbers are and for the other reasons that K2 is more of a killer (he's done a vid on it) not counting how difficult it is to climb

[@parthsavyasachi9348]

Annpurna has the highest death rate.

[@parthsavyasachi9348]

Annpurna has the highest death rate.

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

Just saw one of your replies fi someone and wanted to say that 6000 meters is REALLY GOOD! Look, it’s better to be alive. I attended medical school for three years before a bad car accident and I would not think to go up on those 8000m peaks. The toll that it takes on the human body is just ridiculous. The FiO2 is like 30% of what we breathe down here. I hope all the Nepalese Sherpas have a completely different make up than the rest of us … their genetics are different. They are better at extracting oxygen from the environment, and they also are better effectively using it to power their metabolism. I’m sure you saw Nims and his group power through all the 8000 peaks in 5-7 months recently. I think it was 7 months, but a lot of the time is spent waiting for approval from China to climb Cho Yo or whatever the smallest of the 14 8000ers is. As well as I believe Kachenchuhga. If that’s even spelled right. Well, there is a clip of the movie about that where you see him working out on low O2 air and you see his oxygenation curve on the TV screen … it is just amazing. The Nepalese live at like 5000-6000 feet or something so over time, microevolution has resulted in this genetic refining that we see in them. I’m sure that there are similar genes and polymorphisms in other people that live at very high altitude in different areas of the world, but PubMed has a lot of information about the Nepalese. I love watching mountaineering stuff. But I’d never do it. I simply cannot imagine getting altitude sickness and having my brain swell like a balloon and dying in a mound of snow all alone somewhere. Or getting plowed over by a massive wall of snow and buried to then asphyxiate. And even if I could climb these mountains, I would not. I have 2 daughters. It would be so selfish! I’d stop at 5000-6000 m though and climb with electronically heated clothes and in the coldest weather so that the mountain was stable. So … Keep doing what you’re doing :) Don’t die on this hill; this is not the hill to die on lol (there’s an English idiom “this is (or is not) the hill to die on” lol)

[@bharathg9010]

Successfully scaling the Mighty K2 is a priceless moment for a climber...

[@diegomata3624]

the stat "1 person dies for every 4 who reach the summit" is out of date

[@KellyfromMemphis]

Excellent video, thank you

[@rondog540]

The tragedy of Casarotto is that he did nearly everything right - he turned around high on the mountain when he felt the conditions turning only to fall into a crevasse a short hike from base camp, all the while in radio contact with his wife 😢

[@coachtim6188]

No it's not the deadliest mountain. Why do people keep saying that? Because it used to be. No longer. Annapurna is. Approximately 1 of every 3 who attempt die. K2 is majestically ranked the 2nd deadliest mountain. Besides that, I love your voice and the video. It's obvious English is not your 1st language but you have done phenomenal learning another language and able to speak it so clearly and concise.

[@epicadventurearchives]

Yes, Annapurna is the deadliest of eight-thousanders, but, most viewers couldn't get what I actually meant. I told that out of five highest mountains in the world (Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu), K2 is the deadliest. Approximately 1 person dies of every 4 who summits. Anyway, thanks for your feedback. Stay blessed

[@coachtim6188]

@@epicadventurearchives You are absolutely right. I missed the "of the 5 highest mountains" part. My bad. I've just heard so many say it is the deadliest of all 8,000'ers. That's all my brain heard.

[@diegomata3624]

@@epicadventurearchives Sir, only in 2022 more than A HUNDRED people summited K2 for three casualties; This stat 4 summiters for 1 death is severely outdated.

[@Dilaram123]

What about the murmurry spur of nanga parbat the killer mountain out of all nanga is the most technical to climb

[@upintheeire3531]

Awesome..🙂👍

[@Dressagevids]

Annapurna is the deadliest and certainly is statistically given the huge numbers who summitted K2 this summer, also Casarotto was trying to prove a point by soloing the magic line as I believe Messener had slagged him of big time for his level of ability and bravery.

[@parthsavyasachi9348]

Yes everest is so easly climb that people are going to the top for hundreds of years just to spend weekends. K2 is difficult but everest is no joke either if left without all these ropes and help that is left there.

[@jhors7777]

Well researched and presented, thank you for posting this interesting video

[@harryyarrow4110]

Thank you for profiling this dangerous expedition, on K2.(I think I'll just explore the Poconos).💛

[@ksonny14]

😂

[@aluisious]

I'm sorry how are these guys falling to their death? They're supposed to be using ropes and anchor points.

[@Mrwhomeyou]

Solo climbers don't have anyone else to attach the ropes to. Also in such unstable environment, nature can literally wash both climbers off the face along with their rope and whatever they're attached to

[@lornesabo7306]

I thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you

[@robsanderson3061]

Annapurna is the deadliest

[@jamiefenner9443]

Wow, liked and subscribed, thank-you

[@epicadventurearchives]

Thanks

[@siavash1523]

thanks for making this video. I didn't know that path has been tested an tried before. I learned a new thing today thanks to you. P.S: It is indeed magical. what a route!! breathtaking!

[@nineofnine]

Good content but I only understand every third word coz u a Gupta

[@the_phaistos_disk_solution]

Nice job.

[@sultanniazi2394]

What a beast ❤

[@davewolfe5169]

Thank you

[@finnsaarinen3471]

you are the legend ........Namaste....for your videos......Finnster

[@pratiktandel5706]

please make a video on ed websters climb on everest via north east route. also jordi corominas extra ordinary attempt is also worth making a video.

[@THXbox]

13 climbers did not die in a single day in 1986. Those deaths were separate and days to weeks apart.

[@epicadventurearchives]

Yes, I didn’t say they died in a single day. I have made a separate video of the 1986 K2 disaster and shared all the details. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3mxqGedptSDedE

[@NicoleStevensHays11x]

Excellent video!!! Excellent pictures!!!

[@epicadventurearchives]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kevinbrady6075]

You doubt Reinhold Messner?Good luck with that!

[@epicadventurearchives]

I don’t doubt him, it was Renato Casarotto who doubted him for not attempting the Magic Line as agreed prior to getting to the mountain. I never climbed above six thousand meters, so how can I doubt one of the greatest climbers of all times.

[@kevinbrady6075]

@@epicadventurearchives Sir,I never climb 3 sterps,I salute you@

[@chris1963a]

Great vidio

[@jamisbillson4872]

The Sherpas who summited K2 last winter have done the greatest mountaineering achievement in history. That climb was astonishing. Brilliant mountaineers.

[@ankitacharya975]

sherpa’s literally carried Nirmal Purja up and down the abruzzi spur and he stole all their glory in nepali television

[@_Moses44]

And fyi Annapurna is actually the deadliest 😬 a little research goes a long way breh 👌🏼

[@epicadventurearchives]

I know, but I think you can't get what I actually meant. I told, "Of the five highest mountains in the world, (Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu) K2 is the deadliest; approximately one person dies on the mountain for every four who reach the summit."

[@CallumDoyleDarling]

Is that classified by total fatalities or the measured fatality rate by participation (I.e. percentage of those who attempt to climb K2 that die doing so)?