Elite Alpinists Feared Dead on K2

News of both tragedy and triumph has come from K2 in recent days. On July 28, Benjamin Védrines smashed the peak’s speed record, climbing the standard route from Advanced Base Camp (17,398ft) to the summit (28,251ft) in a mere 11 hours, without the aid of supplementary oxygen. The previous record, set by Benoit Chamoux in 1986, was 23 hours.

At the same time, Japanese duo Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima are presumed dead, after what appears to have been a long fall on the West Face. The...