A hard-won victory on Karjiang, once the world’s fourth-highest unclimbed peak, now stands as a tale of grit, timing, and high-stakes adventure. Chinese climbers Liu Yang and Song Yuancheng, driven by tight weather windows and sheer determination, carved a path to the summit on August 13, 2024, in a mission they aptly named “Buzzer Beater.”
At 7,221 meters, Karjiang looms as one of the Himalayas’ most forbidding peaks. Flanked by steep, icy faces and prone to erratic weather, this mountain defeated numerous attempts over the decades, including those by Japanese and Dutch teams in the 1980s and early 2000s. For Liu Yang—a university lecturer limited to climbing during his summer break—Karjiang had long been a dream. Undeterred by the rough July monsoon season that keeps many climbers away, Yang and Yuancheng pushed forward, prepared to take on unrelenting storms and knife-edged ridges.
Their ascent, however, was anything but straightforward. After setting up base camp at a staggering 5,800 meters, their first attempt was stymied by a blinding storm. Forced back to Lhasa when altitude sickness struck the base camp crew, Yang and Yuancheng used each setback as preparation. From bivouacs carved beneath menacing seracs to nights wedged in icy crevasses, they mapped their approach to match the mountain’s unpredictable moods.
On August 11, at 2:30 a.m., they launched their final summit push, advancing through steep snow and rock. Hours later, after sheltering in an ice cave and later bivouacking within a crevasse, they reached the top of Karjiang near 3 p.m. on August 13. Their vision was almost entirely obscured by a blinding whiteout, with visibility so low they could barely discern the summit.
The descent proved just as treacherous, as blizzards buffeted them on avalanche-prone terrain. Finally back at base, they found their tent flattened under fresh snow and had to trek to the nearest village for safety.
Now, the newly named “Buzzer Beater” route embodies their story of bold timing and relentless courage—a testament to their unyielding spirit on one of the last unclimbed giants.
For more info, head to https://app.advcollective.com