Weather on K2 during historic first winter ascent

We find that the historic first wintertime ascent of K2 in January 2021 by a Nepalese team was aided by weather that was anomalously favourable. An upper‐level ridge brought low wind speeds, and relatively high temperatures and air pressures that were quite uncharacteristic of winter. Extraordinary ability in the climbing team aligning with opportune weather therefore explains how this last great challenge in extreme‐altitude mountaineering was overcome.