Killer Mountain earns its moniker
RESCUERS SAVE STRANDED CLIMBER WHILE ANOTHER DIES
With her frostbitten and snow-blind climbing partner safe in their only tent, Elisabeth Revol proceeded farther down the mountain to call for help on her satellite phone.
But even if the Frenchwoman could make contact with someone, who would be able to help before the climbers succumbed to the harsh conditions in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth?
Revol and her partner, Tomasz “Tomek” Mackiewicz, a Polish climber, were 7,400 metres up Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth-highest mountain, on Thursday.
Mackiewicz had made the attempt six times in the past six years, falling short every time. Revol joined him starting in 2014.
Nanga Parbat has been killing European climbers since the West discovered it in the late 19th century. The locals in North Pakistan call it diamir, or “huge mountain.” But the mountaineering community has another name for it: Killer Mountain.
Six months after two climbers died in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat, Mackiewicz and Revol were seeking to become just the second team to reach its summit in wintertime. They started in mid-December, according to Mackiewicz’s Facebook page. By Thursday, they were close.
But his seventh attempt would fail, too. On Thursday, Mackiewicz and his partner realized he was suffering from frostbite and snow blindness. So Revol secured him and descended alone, trying to reach by phone anyone who could help.
Shortly afterward, her friend Masha Gordon, a British executive, started a GoFundMe to raise awareness — and money — for a rescue:
“A well-known French climber Elisabeth Revol and a Polish climber Tomek Mackiewicz on 25/01 /2018 made a daring winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. Unfortunately, on the way Tomek became snow-blind and suffered frostbite. They require a rescue to save Tomek’s life who is in a critical condition. The upfront rescue cost is estimated at US$50,000.”
The New York Times reported the rescue effort was briefly delayed because the Pakistani military refused to scramble a helicopter until the money for its operation was guaranteed, a common practice in the mountains.
As authorities and friends tried to cobble the life-saving operation together, the GoFundMe page became a news ticker of sorts.
“Eli managed to bring Tomek down to 7280 m this morning and set him up in a tent to spend the night while the rescue effort gets underway early tomorrow morning,” a Friday update read. “Though she has no tent, she is clearly lucid and is making progress on descent to help get rescue effort underway.”
A day later, the news was mixed. Revol was still clearheaded and descending the mountain, “but has frostbites on her toes.”
“I am OK,” she texted from the satellite phone, according to the GoFundMe page. “Very thirsty and hungry.”
Hope came in the form of an “elite climbing team” from Poland. The group of four was attempting to make the first winter ascent of the nearby peak K2, according to the BBC. Authorities contacted them and they agreed to join the rescue effort.
Pakistani military helicopters ferried the men from one mountain to another.
Early Sunday, the team’s Facebook page announced success: “Elisabeth Revol found! Adam and Denis just got to her.” Their elation was tempered by the sobering decision that followed. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, with a wind chill of -60C and 80 km/h winds. It would be impossible to go up for Mackiewicz.
The rescuers descended with Revol. A physician in Islamabad said Revol’s injuries were not life-threatening.
In all, nearly US$125,000 was raised for the rescue. Organizers said they were trying to make sure as much as possible goes to Mackiewicz’s wife and three children.
THOUGH SHE HAS NO TENT, SHE IS CLEARLY LUCID AND IS MAKING PROGRESS ON DESCENT.