THREE adventurers from South Lakeland and Eden narrowly failed in their bid to reach the summit of one of the world’s most notorious mountains.

Due to the extreme difficulty of the ascent and the fact that one in every four climbers attempting to reach the top dies, it comes as no surprise that K2 has been christened Savage Mountain.

The summit of the world’s second highest peak was long considered unattainable because of its great height and almost unbroken slopes of rock and ice.

But for Peter Brittelton, a fell runner from Kirkby Stephen, Paul Noble, of Windermere, and Paul Etheridge, of Ulverston, it was a gruelling challenge they always wanted to achieve.

Mr Brittleton, 51, who is a member of Kendal Cycle Club, made it more difficult by attempting the ascent without oxygen.

“I’ve climbed Everest without oxygen, so I wanted to do this in the most natural way possible,” he said. “You’ve got to have a challenge in life and this was mine.”

Setting off mid-June this was going to be Mr Brittleton’s and Mr Etheridge’s second attempt at tackling the mountain.

Despite reaching camp one and two in good time there was trouble ahead for the team when they got stuck at camp four, at 7,900m, for several days.

“I had to dig my tent out from the snow at 3am it was that bad,” continued Mr Brittleton.

“We spent three days there with very little food and water and I completely lost my appetite.

“The time we were there for was the longest any British team has ever spent at camp four.”

However, even though the team was still committed to getting to the summit, the expedition eventually had to be called off. The climbers set off for the summit at around 9.30pm but at 4am had to stop as a huge crevasse opened up just below the bottle neck.

With heavy hearts the team had to turn back to camp.

Before admitting defeat however, the climbers managed to ascend to 8,104m, which is the highest any British team has reached in 2019.

And, only 12 teams from 11 different countries have attempted K2 this year.

This challenge was also done in memory of a friend and fellow climber who died on his descent from K2 after having reached the summit.

Canadian climber Serge Dessaureault, 53, fell to his death near camp two, just below House’s Chimney at approximately 6,700m. The team carried a memorial plaque in his name and placed it at base camp. Mr Brittleton hopes to return one day and reach the summit.