The unsuccessful 1939 American Karakoram expedition to K2 was the second U.S. attempt on the unclimbed second-highest mountain in the world, following the 1938 reconnaissance expedition. Fritz Wiessner, the leader of the expedition, and Pasang Dawa Lama got to within of the summit of K2 via the Abruzzi Ridge - a difficult and arduous route - with Wiessner doing practically all the lead climbing. Through a series of mishaps one of the team members, Dudley Wolfe, was left stranded near the top of the mountain after his companions had descended to base camp. Three attempts were made to rescue Wolfe. On the second attempt three Sherpas reached him after he had been alone for a week at over but he refused to try to descend. Two days later the Sherpas again tried to rescue him but they were never seen again. A final rescue effort was abandoned when all hope for the four climbers had been lost.