While he met with other teams when they were planning the duty roster for fixed lines, he decided to climb alone straight from Camp III. He said he immediately noticed that other climbers were suffering from Summit Fever, and he chose to make the assault alone while the others were still discussing their problem with fixed ropes. He summited K2 on August 1, 2008. He was the first climber to reach the summit that day. He also descended successfully and was the first climber to do so, only hours before the 2008 K2 disaster.