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| August 8, 2005 | Monday | Rajab 2, 1426 |
Slovenian faces cliffhanger on ‘killer mountain’
ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: Renowned Slovenian Alpinist Tomaz Humar has been struggling for life on Nanga Parbat for the last four days after he got stuck at about 6,000-metre altitude while climbing down from 6,400m on Rupal face of the 26,500 feet mountain on Thursday. He said “good bye” to his fellows at the base camp in the afternoon on August 1.
Tomaz Humar earned world fame for accepting the challenge of scaling most dangerous mountain faces and outstanding climbing pursuits in the European Alps and the Himalaya.
He attempted a new route on world’s highest precipice from Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat, also known as “killer mountain”, in 2003, but had to quit due to bad weather conditions and health problems. But the ace climber returned to take on the same route again this summer, when the weather turned most unfavourable for climbers all over northern Pakistan.
Since his arrival at the base camp, weather had been very bad, but after a few clear days, he climbed almost half way up the Rupal face towards his target. Yet again, the weather tricked him with horrible snow conditions, fog, and avalanches, making it impossible to either go up or down.
Tomaz Humar is hanging on to a bird-like perch on a snow mushroom-like edge with the help of ice screws and some rope. It has been snowing for the last 48 hours, and avalanche activity every few minutes is making it impossible for the climber to make a move towards safety. His physical endurance is also waning as he has not been able to sleep in wet conditions in his igloo.
On August 5, Mr Tomaz, using radio, made a request through base camp to his longtime friend and coordinator Nazir Sabir for helicopter rescue on Saturday evening at 6pm. Mr Sabir quickly responded, while the Slovenian tried to climb down to 6,000m to make it a bit easier for the rescuers.
But the helicopters rescue has still not been materialized due to bad weather conditions and high altitude. Although, it was only this May 14 when a French chopper touched the tip of Everest for the first time in the human history, it was a special machine, it is said.
Best possible efforts are being made for his rescue since Friday evening. Also, there have been high-level contacts between Slovenian and Pakistani authorities concerning the rescue operation.
This is a high-profile emergency as Tomaz Humar is not only a hero in Slovenia, but also the world’s most outstanding personality in mountaineering for his daring solo climbs on most difficult mountains in recent times.
Nazir Sabir, president, Alpine Club of Pakistan, has appealed for his rescue. It can be a very positive image-building step as millions around the world are eagerly looking to Pakistan to rescue the mountaineer. One option can be formation of an expert group of rescuers with appropriate logistical support and facilities. But such options need to be broached now.
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