August 29, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 26, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: A Pakistan army helicopter plucked a Slovenian climber stranded on a mountain in Baltistan on Thursday after rescuers had brought him down to 5,300 meters and flew him to Skardu.

Dejan Maskovics was stuck up on Mustagh Tower peak near K2 on Monday after the death of his colleague, Pavle Kozjak.

Army Aviation helicopters, Alpine Club of Pakistan President Nazir Sabir told Dawn, flew the rescue team led by two Slovenian climbers, Tomaz Humar and Ales Kozelj, to the Base Camp of the mountain from Skardu.

The army aviation pilots were able to fly them to the top of the icefall on Thursday morning and picked Dejan Miskovic from the south face of Mustagh Tower at the height of 5,300m.

Mr Dejan is in good health, he added.

The two Slovenian climbers -- Dejan Miskovic and Pavle Kozjek -- were ascending a technically difficult northeast face of the 7,273-metre (23,862-foot) Mustagh Tower from advanced base camp at 5,040m on the Younghousband Glacier on Sunday midnight. After 15 hours of climbing, they reached the saddle between Mustagh Tower and the 6,550-metre ‘sharp peak’.

The accident occurred early in the morning on Monday when the soft snow ridge cornice near their tent, where Pavle Kozjek was standing on, suddenly broke and he fell 200 meters into a chasm.

Dejan Miskovic started descending the mountain from the opposite direction on the south face, but stranded at 5,300-metre above a treacherous and heavily crevassed glacier for four days.