Elite climbers save stranded mountaineer

AN ELITE group of climbers rescued a French mountaineer from a Himalayan peak in Pakistan but had to abandon the search for her climbing partner because of fierce weather conditions.

The four volunteer rescuers from a separate Polish expedition, with support from the Pakistani military, launched the attempt on Saturday to rescue Elisabeth Revol.

However, they were unable to reach Polish national Tomasz Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat, which is known as the “killer mountain” after more than 30 climbers died trying to climb it before the first successful summit in 1953. The mountain is the ninth-highest in the world, at 26,660ft.

Yesterday, Ms Revol, who has frostbite on her feet, was taken to the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, officials said.

The 37-year-old physical education teacher was in a stable condition and her wounds were not life-threatening, hospital officials said.

However, in a series of updates on Facebook, Ludovic Giambiasi, a friend of Ms Revol, wrote: “The rescue for Tomasz is unfortunately not possible – because of the weather and altitude, it would put the life of rescuers in extreme danger. It’s a terrible and painful decision.”

The rescue mission began after the pair were located on Friday by fellow mountaineers, who spotted Ms Revol attempting to climb down while Mr Mackiewicz appeared to be crawling because of frostbite.