KARACHI, Pakistan – Some climbers call it ‘the wild mountain’. K2 is the world’s second highest peak, after Mount Everest, and some climbers consider it even more dangerous. Only last month did one group become the first one to successfully scale it down during the winter by facing dangerously thin air and temperatures that could drop minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rescuers and mountaineers on Monday highlighted the dangers of the K2 climb in the winter after authorities in Pakistan said three climbers had been missing since Friday and that hopes of finding them alive had evaporated. The missing climbers were Muhammad Ali Sadpara, a 45-year-old from Pakistan; John Snorri (47) of Iceland; and Juan Pablo Mohr, a 33-year-old Chilean.
Authorities said they would continue the search on Tuesday after halting operations on Monday due to poor visibility. But officials and some family members expressed little hope that the three would be found alive.
“There is no hope that anyone will survive after 8 days at 8,000 meters,” said Sajid Ali Sadpara, the son of Mr. Sadpara, said. The younger Mr. Sadpara was part of the expedition, but aborted his climb at an altitude of 8,200 meters after his oxygen pipe began to leak. “Now the search must continue to retrieve the bodies,” he added.
The trio has made its second attempt to expand the summit since December. The three were last seen at around noon on Friday at a narrow envelope called Bottleneck, the steep climb only 300 meters from the K2 peak.
K2, in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, near the border with China, is 8,611 meters – more than five miles – above sea level. For decades, climbers from around the world have considered the downsizing of K2 from November to the end of February as one of the most challenging challenges in mountain climbing.
Many who tried lost their lives. In 2008, 11 people lost their lives, while 13 climbers died in 1986 over a two-week period, one of the worst disasters in the history of mountain climbing. Mountaineering experts believe that climbers experience oxygen, snow blindness and frostbite.
This winter was especially deadly. Last month, two climbers died after falling into a ravine as they descended or tried to scale down near the peaks in preparation for the K2.
A 42-year-old Bulgarian alpinist, Atanas Skatov, was found dead by a Pakistani army helicopter on K2 on Friday after he allegedly fell at about 7,400 meters.
In January, a Spanish climber, Sergi Mingote, fell dead as he climbed the mountain. Alex Goldfarb, a Russian-American professor at Harvard University, also lost his life on a nearby mountain during an acclimatizing mission in the same month.
Still, climbers continue their efforts. Last month, a Nepalese mountaineering team reached the K2 peak for the first time during the winter.
Despite severe weather, Pakistani military helicopters continued a search from the air on Monday. International experts from the winter expedition in Pakistan and several Pakistani mountaineering experts continued their search on the ground.
Mr. Sadpara, the son of the Pakistani climber, said that the expedition team had been trying to reach the summit of K2 since December 12. They began their second attempt on Thursday, he said.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after talking to his Icelandic counterpart Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, said the government was doing everything in its power to track down the three missing mountaineers, including continuing the air investigation. .
“We pray for their safe recovery,” he said. Qureshi said.
Karrar Haidri, an official of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, a private organization that promotes mountaineering in the country, said that since 1954 there have been more than 360 successful climbs of K2 and 86 deaths. bad weather, he added.
Mr. Haidri said that the base camp had stopped receiving a signal from the three climbers after reaching 8,000 meters and that it was unclear whether they had reached the summit.
“We can only hope for a miracle for their survival,” he said.
Zia ur-Rehman reported from Karachi, Pakistan, and Sameer Yasir from Srinagar, Kashmir.