K2: Nirmal Purja and Nepalese team make first winter summit of Savage Mountain

A team of Nepalese mountaineers has claimed one of climbing's last great prizes by becoming the first to reach the top of K2 in winter.

The 10-strong team reached the peak of the world's second tallest mountain on Saturday afternoon after hours of slogging through the mountain's high altitude “death zone”.

As the team descended from the summit, their achievement was hailed as a victory for both world climbing and the prowess of Nepalese climbers who for decades had been relegated to acting as assistants on foreign expeditions.

“What a journey. I’m humbled to say that as a team, we have summited the magnificent K2 in extreme winter conditions,” said Nirmal Purja, one of the climbers.

Mr Purja, a former Gurkha and who served in the British special forces, said: “We set out to make the impossible possible and we are honoured to be sharing this moment, not only with the Nepalese climbing community but with communities all across the world.”

The winter ascent of the 8,611 meter summit on Pakistan's border with China represented the conquest of a peak so renowned for its dangers that it has been nicknamed Savage Mountain.

More than 80 climbers are believed to have died on the mountain and in August 2008 its upper reaches were the scene of one of the climbing's worst disasters of recent years.

A total of 11 climbers died when the edge of an ice shelf sheared off and swept away a network of ropes.

The addition of winter temperatures as low as -50C and hurricane-force winds means few attempts have ever been made at this time of year.

“Mother Nature always has bigger things to say and standing on the summit, witness to the sheer force of her extremities, we are proud to have been a part of history for humankind,” Mr Purja said.

Several expeditions comprising dozens of climbers arrived on the mountain in late December and have been acclimatising and laying climbing ropes since then.

The final assault was made by members of three different expeditions who decided on a joint final push.

The team set off at around 1am Saturday and assembled just below the summit so they could reach the top together and no individual would be listed as first.