Pakistani climbers Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali, who were stranded in Nanga Parbat for 2 days since their summit on July 5, have been successfully evacuated from the mountain to the safety of Gilgit Baltistan.
The duo survived the night at 7,500m in the open above Camp III on their first day of being stranded. They then descended on their own to Camp I after two days.
Pakistan army’s rescue helicopter airlifted the duo from Camp I on Thursday. “They made it to Camp I on their own after being stranded near the death zone, which is an amazing feat,” said Gelje Sherpa, a member of the rescue team.
Gelje, who has rescued climbers from the death zone in Annapurna, was up for long line evacuation, but the bad weather forced the rescue operation to be aborted on Wednesday. They were to fly to the mountain next day when the base camp staff spotted the duo at Camp II early in the morning.
“Weather was challenging to fly on the second day. So, we waited for them to climb down,” he told Everest Chronicle.
Gelje was concerned about the Kingshofer wall, a challenging technical section below Camp II. “Kingshofer wall is the most difficult section among world’s peaks above 8,000 m. One needs to be physically fit to abseil down the wall,” Gelje told Everest Chronicle while readying for the rescue early in the morning.
Nanga Parbat is also known as the Killer Mountain because of its high number of fatalities.
The duo arrived at Camp I around 5pm local time on their own, proof that they were in good health. They are now resting in Gilgit after evacuation. Both of them are in normal physical condition.
Shehroze, 20, is the youngest mountaineer to climb three 8,000m peaks in 23 days. He is the youngest climber to summit K2 and youngest Pakistani to climb Everest.
He wants to become the youngest mountaineer to summit all 14 peaks above 8,000 m. Currently, Nepali mountaineer Mingma Gyabu Sherpa holds the title, who had set the record at the age of 30.
British climber Adriana Brownlee, who is chasing the same record, is two years older than him. Nanga Parbat was the eight peaks above 8,000 m for both the contenders.
