ISLAMABAD: An avalanche hit a team of Polish climbers on Nanga Parbat pushing them 300 to 400 metres down and injuring two of them.

“Michal Obrycki and Pawel Dunaj were hit by the avalanche on Saturday. It took rescuers the whole day to bring them down to the safety of Base Camp,” said Asghar Ali, a tour operator managing the six-member winter Polish expedition on the 8,126-metre high peak.

“We have been trying for three days for a helicopter evacuation. But rains and snowfall have prevented the army helicopters from taking off,” said Ali, adding the team was probably running low on painkillers. He said the climbers were heading to Camp II from Camp I when the avalanche hit them.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) confirmed the incident. It said texts of conversation between the climbers and the Base Camp showed that the two climbers were seriously hurt. Marek (base camp): What happened?

Michal: Avalanche

Marek: How are you?

Michal: We live, but we are broken, ribs broken.

Pawel Dunaj’s condition was stated to be critical with broken ribs and an arm while Michal Obrycki got his nose broken and a leg injured besides being bruised.

Pawel Dunaj and Michal Obrycki left the Base Camp on Saturday and had climbed 5,000 metres and were preparing the route for the summit push when the incident occurred.

It may be noted that while the Italian and German climbers were forced to abandon their winter climbing expeditions due to the continuous bad weather for nearly three months, four out of the six-member Polish expedition had decided to stay on until the end of the winter season on March 21.

“The Poles had been waiting for the one clear window to make a summit push,” world famous Italian mountaineer Simone Moro told Dawn whose team members climbed as high as 7,200 metres on the killer mountain but were forced to make tracks after weather deteriorated.

“The weather had been unfavourable since March 1. The Poles were readying themselves for one last push at the end of last week,” said Ali, the tour guide.

He explained that the month of March was riskier. Winters transitioning into summers cause avalanches on Nanga Parbat and other peaks also, he said.

The rescue operation started as soon as the Base Camp team heard the news of the incident from Pawel Dunaj.

Tomek Mackiewicz and Jacek Teler, the two other Polish team members, went up from the Base Camp at 3,500 metres with Pakistani chefs.

“It took them more than 10 hours to bring the injured team members down,” added Ali.

“Right now, Pawel Dunaj and Michal Obrycki are holding up in the Base Camp. If the helicopter evacuation is not possible in the next day or two, the injured climbers will have to be carried down on stretchers and brought to the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu. They might be brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) later.

The ACP said the Askari Aviation only performed evacuation missions if climbing expeditions had deposited a fee (roughly $10,000).

“The Polish expedition had not deposited the security for such an operation. But the problem was solved after repeated communications between Poland and Pakistan,” said member executive council of the ACP, Karrar Haidri.

He said the helicopters were ready for takeoff as soon as the weather permitted.

He said weather was less likely to clear on Wednesday. With these injuries and the winter climbing season closing after March 21, the Poles too have abandoned their winter season ascent on the Nanga Parbat.