ISLAMABAD – All foreign climbers at the K2 base camp have decided to end the winter expeditions, considering the harsh weather conditions.
The decision comes after three climbers lost their lives and three more including world renowned Ali Sadpara went missing.
Muhammad Ali Sadpara, 45, of Pakistan, John Snorri, 47, of Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr, 33, of Chile, were last seen Friday around noon at what is considered the most difficult part of the climb: the Bottleneck, a steep and narrow gully just 300 metres shy of the 8,611 metre (28,251 ft) high K2.
As soon as the weather clears, the search team will continue the operation — entering the fifth day — using the C-130 to find the missing climbers at the highest levels of K2. The entire death zone will be photographed with the latest camera installed in the plane, while Sajid Sadpara, son of Ali Sadpara, is also taking part in the search operation.
Over 50 climbers from 18 countries had arrived in Pakistan to summit the ‘Savage Mountain’ and will now abandon their campaign following no success. A team of Only the Nepali climbers made history on K2 last month when they became the first to scale it in winter.
On February 5, a Bulgarian mountaineer was confirmed to have died on K2. He is the third mountaineer to die on K2’s slopes this year, after a Spanish climber fell to his death last month. Russian-American Alex Goldfarb also died on a nearby mountain in January.
