Oakville mountaineer oldest woman to climb Pakistan’s K2
Published September 9, 2022 at 12:23 pm
Oakville’s Lilly Ianovskaia has become the oldest woman in the world to conquer K2 in Pakistan.
The 62-year-old climbed the second highest, and what’s considered the most dangerous, mountain in the world on July 22.
The first Canadian woman to climb the mountain, Ianovskaia is the oldest female according to Germany-based researcher Eberhard Jurgalski and 8,000’ers.com, who study mountains above 8,000 metres.
It’s been quite the summer for the Oakville native who also successfully climbed Mount Everest in Nepal, the world’s largest mountain at 8,849 metres, with her daughter Dasha.
It’s only the second time a mother-daughter team has done so.
While Mount Everest stands tallest, Pakistan’s 8,611-metre K2 mountain is considered one of the most difficult challenges due to its steepness, unpredictable weather and avalanches.
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In early August, Ianovskaia added the world’s 13 highest mountain to her list of successful climbs, summiting up Gasherbrum II located in the same northern region of Pakistan as K2.
Gasherbrum II stands 8,035 metres above sea level.
Among the 14 highest mountains in the world above 8,000 metres, Ianovskaia has now climbed five of them (Everest, K2, Gasherbrum, Cho Oyu and Manaslu).
