ISLAMABAD: Army helicopters on Monday made three attempts to get closer to the climbers stranded on 6,900-metre high altitude on Rakaposhi but due to strong winds and thick clouds they had to abort the mission and return.
According to Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Karrar Haidri, rescue teams are trying to approach the three climbers — two Check nationals Jakub Vicek, Peter Macek and local climber Wajidullah Nagri — from the aerial as well as the ground route.
The weather condition and the strong winds are turning all rescue efforts futile and one can only wait for some miracle to take place or rely on the stranded climbers’ willpower to sustain the harsh weather and physical weakness.
The climbers had summited the Rakaposhi on Thursday and began the descent but were stuck while returning.
A day earlier, too, helicopter pilots tried to approach the mountain twice but thick clouds forced them back. Then winds gushing at around 60k/ph forced the choppers to abort the mission. The two helicopters are back in Gilgit and will try again tomorrow.
However, not even the excellent pilots can reach Jakub Vicek, Peter Macek, and Wajidullah Nagri while they are in Camp 3 which lies well above the helicopters’ flying roof.
Most of the rescue will fall on Abdul Joshi, the professional climber from Shimshal, who is assisted by another strong man Kareem Hayat in the ground rescue mission. Joshi summited Annapurna with Sirbaz Khan last spring. He has volunteered to help, but he cannot do it alone.
According to the APC official, Vicek, Macek, and Nagri are relatively safe in their C3 tent as they are in good health and have food for two more days.
They might have some frostbite and are facing their fifth night at altitude.
The climbers set off from Camp 3 toward the summit of Rakaposhi early on September 8. They reached the top rather late in the day. At 5pm, Nagri texted home to say that they had just started descending. They reached C3 as the weather worsened. They have not moved since.
The trio, according to Haidri, climbed the British SW Spur route from the Kunti Glacier but they didn’t fix ropes all the way up, and therein lay the problem.
The climbers can’t descend any further because the section right below them has no fixed ropes. It seems they don’t have the rope of sufficient length (400-metre long) needed for the purpose.
The route is very long and they’ll need to fix rope on their way. Without fixed ropes, rescue is impossible.
Joshi, though a strong and professional rescuer, yet he needs a group of people to perform his job. Right now is waiting for the weather to permit him to move further. The helicopter will pick him tomorrow and drop him as high up as possible. It is not clear where that will be, since the route follows a steep ridge, Karrar Haidri said.
