Helicopters to attempt rescue of climber on K-2

[August 04, 2008]  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Helicopters flew to the world's second-highest mountain Monday to try to rescue an Italian climber stranded after an avalanche at more than 26,250 feet left at least nine mountaineers missing and feared dead.

Two rescue choppers took off from Skardu, the town nearest K-2, on a mission to rescue Marco Confortola, who is suffering from "serious frostbite," said Ilyas Ahmed Mirza, an official at the Askari Aviation helicopter service.

The helicopters will also evacuate four other climbers who returned to a base camp on K-2, Mirza said.

The reported toll of nine dead from the avalanche was the highest from a single incident on K-2 since at least 1995, when seven climbers died after being caught in a fierce storm.

A total of 22 people, mostly foreigners, in eight different groups scaled K-2's summit on Friday, said Nazir Sabir of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. It remained unclear how many climbers were still on the mountain.

K-2 is regarded by mountaineers as more challenging to conquer than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak.

As the mountaineers made their way down, the avalanche cut ropes used to cross a treacherous wall of ice some 1,148 feet below the 28,250-foot summit, sweeping some climbers to their deaths and stranding others at a height where they would likely succumb to exposure, Sabir said.

Accounts varied on the number of dead and how they died. Local army spokesman Maj. Farooq Firoz declined to provide a figure before authorities had spoken with survivors.

But Sabir said nine people died in the avalanche. Included in that number, were two rescuers -- a Nepalese sherpa and a Pakistani porter -- who survivors said fell to their death.

Mohammed Akram, vice president of the Adventure Foundation of Pakistan, a nonprofit organization, said one rescue team dispatched Sunday had reached a Dutchman and an Italian suffering from frostbite and were helping them down toward a camp at an altitude of 21,325 feet.

He said helicopter crews spotted survivors, but could not pluck them to safety because the air is too thin for them to operate so high.

The fixed-rope lines were strung across a point on the mountain known as "The Bottleneck." Chris Warner, an American who climbed K-2 last year, said it was the deadliest spot on the mountain and the fall from there down the south face is about 9,000 feet.

"You can see how for people who were exhausted, it would have been nearly impossible for them to descend without the ropes," said Warner.

He said hope was fading for anyone still alive and separated from their group. "Once their hands and feet are frozen, they really are unable to move on their own power, and it takes other people to carry them down," he said.

At 28,250 feet, K-2 stands about 785 feet below Mount Everest, but is a "phenomenally dangerous mountain," said Alan Arnett, who climbed a nearby peak with at least one of the missing climbers.

Compared with Everest, "it's more technical, it's steeper, the weather is more intense," he said.

About 280 people have summited K-2 since 1954, when it was first conquered by Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedell. Dozens of deaths have been recorded since 1939, most of them occurring during the descent.

[Associated Press; By SADAQAT JAN]

Associated Press writers Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Lily Hindy in Washington contributed to this report.

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