Helicopters search for three climbers missing in K2 winter attempt
An aerial search to find three experienced climbers who lost contact with base camp during a winter ascent of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, will resume on Monday morning officials have said.
Celebrated Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara and his two companions, John Snorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile, lost contact with base camp late on Friday and were reported missing on Saturday after their support team stopped receiving reports from them during their ascent.
K2, in the Karakoram range, is 8,611metres (28,250ft) high and one of the world’s most dangerous climbs, sometimes referred to as “killer mountain”. Last month, a team of 10 Nepali climbers became the first ever to climb to its summit in winter.
Karrar Haideri, an official with the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said: “The base camp received no signals from Sadpara and his foreign companions after 8,000 metres … A search is on and let’s pray for their safe return home.”
Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying Iceland’s foreign minister, Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, spoke to his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, by telephone. Qureshi assured him that Pakistan would spare no effort in the search for the missing mountaineers.
Sadpara and his team left the base camp on 3 February, a month after their first attempt to scale the mountain failed because of weather conditions.
Although Mount Everest is 237 metres taller, K2 is much further north and subject to worse weather conditions, according to mountaineering experts. They say a winter climb is particularly dangerous because of the unpredictable and rapid changes in weather conditions.
Winter winds on K2 can blow at more than 125 mph and temperatures can drop to -60C. In one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents ever, 11 climbers died in a single day trying to scale K2 in 2008.
Haideri said Sadpara’s son, Sajid, had returned to the base camp safely after his oxygen regulator malfunctioned at 8,000 metres. He was onboard the rescue helicopter on Sunday.
Haideri noted Sadpara’s experience as a mountaineer who has climbed the world’s eight highest mountains.