Rolf Bae was a Norwegian mountaineer and explorer who lived from 9 January 1975 until 1 August 2008, and he was born in Norway. Bae was the proprietor of an adventure company known as Fram, which specialized in providing survival classes and trips to the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
In the year 2000/2001, Bae, along with fellow explorer Eirik Sønneland, successfully traversed Antarctica, achieving the world’s longest ski excursion at the time. The trek spanned a distance of 3800 kilometres and took 105 days to complete. However, Rune Gjeldnes surpassed this record in the year 2006.
After skiing from the ice shelf on December 27, 2005, he arrived to the South Pole. On April 24, 2006, he reached the North Pole without any assistance. Both of these missions were completed in conjunction with Skog.
In 2008, Bae, Stein-Ivar Gravdal, Bjarte Bø, and Sigurd Felde successfully climbed to the summit of the Great Trango Tower, which is situated at an elevation of 6286 meters in Karakoram, Pakistan. They accomplished this feat by utilizing the “Norwegian Buttress” (VII 5.10+ A4). The team climbed the mountain for a total of 27 days and then descended it for a total of 30 hours. This was the second time that this route was used to finish an ascent.
Death
At the time of his death on August 1, 2008, Rolf Bae was participating in an international expedition on K2 mountain when he was involved in a climbing mishap.
Cecilie, his wife, claims that she witnessed her husband being swept off the mountain in the event of an accident occurred due to an ice fall.
The first Irishman to reach the summit of K2 was Ger McDonnell, and Bae was a friend and comrade of McDonnell. Both men were killed in separate avalanches on K2 within a few hours of each other respectively.
Personal life
Cecilie Skog, who was the first woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, was his wife. He did not have any children. She is the only person to have reached both the South Pole and the North Pole, in addition to climbing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent.
Speculation of a found body
At the beginning of this week, we were informed of the tragic news that the bones of a climber had been discovered on K2.
The body was discovered by researchers who were working on the mountain almost a week ago; however, they have not been able to identify the body as of yet.
In an effort to solve the mystery, the team has made an appeal to the mountaineering community for assistance in identifying the climber who fell from the mountain.
During their time on K2, researchers Michele Cucchi and Paolo Petrignani were working alongside Pakistani guides in order to evaluate the current condition of the fragile glaciers in the region and the impact that the environment is having on them.
Once they arrived at Base Camp, the group of researchers made their way to Advanced Base Camp to examine the damage that had been caused by the massive avalanche that occurred in July. The avalanche had swept away the tents, bottled oxygen, and ropes that had been fixed.
As a result of the avalanche, the climbing season on the peak in 2016 was effectively terminated, and all of the teams were compelled to retreat without achieving even a single summit.
When researcher Michele Cucchi was searching among the debris that was left behind by the avalanche, she discovered a number of tents, ropes that had been fixed, canisters of oxygen that had been bottled, and the remains of a human body.
According to reports, the deceased, which was claimed to be laying beneath a thin coating of ice, was wearing a size 8 Millet Boot (as shown in the image above). According to the experts, the boot is a relatively new type, which led them to the conclusion that the climber must have been lost not too long ago.
However, the crew was unable to identify the climber who had fallen, and they are currently requesting any additional information from the climbing community in order to identify the body. Please get in touch with Montagna.tv as soon as possible if you are in possession of any information and are reading this particular article.
It has already been brought to the attention of one individual that the Millet boot in issue is in fact an older version of the new boot, and that the climber who fell could have perhaps passed away several years ago.
There is another person who has brought forward a story that was published eight years ago, in which Rolf Bae, who was involved in the accident that occurred on K2 in 2008, is depicted wearing boots that are quite similar to these boots. Nevertheless, it will be up to specialists to determine whether the boot might be the same one that was originally discovered eight years ago or whether the one that was discovered is a more recent version.
Within the confines of K2, the body was transported to the Gilkey Memorial in order to be laid to rest, as is customary. Since 1953, this location has been used to bury all of the falling climbers. At this point, all we can do is hope that some fresh information will come to light so that the climber who has not been named can be mourned in the appropriate manner.
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