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Big freeze: Dromara climber Noel Hanna to spend Christmas scaling K2
Adventurer Noel Hanna will be celebrating Christmas and his birthday on the mighty K2 mountain in the harshest of winter conditions.
Noel, from Dromara in Co Down, will join a team of experienced climbers who all hope to climb the second highest mountain in the world, located on the China-Pakistan border.
The team will begin their journey this Saturday and aim to become the first group to ever climb K2 in winter.
Noel (53) became the first person from Northern Ireland to conquer K2 in 2018 and also scaled Everest in 2006.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph from South Africa last night, Noel said the weather forecast at base camp gave -35 degrees.
"Normally when you're at base camp in the summer-time you can lie out and sunbath with the hot sun but obviously you're going to be wearing a suit the whole time," he said.
"I haven't had any real preparations this year because I haven't been in the mountains with the Covid pandemic.
"It will be my most difficult expedition and I don't know how I'll cope with the cold. I can only wait and see how I get on.
"I'm not going to be stupid and risk the chance of losing fingers and toes just to get to the summit."
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