ISLAMABAD: Most climbers arrived in December to attempt Nanga Parbat this winter season, but bad weather thwarted their expedition.

Alpine Club of Pakistan said bad weather, snow and stormy winds did not allow the mountaineers to resume their climbing.

Member Executive Council, ACP, Karrar Haidri, quoting French mountaineer Elizabeth Revol, one of the few climbers who reached the highest spot on the mountain, said the snowy Nanga Parbat had become inhospitable.

“I left the base camp under a blue sky, which changed in no time. Now it was time to leave this place,” said Elizabeth Revol who also rescued her climbing partner Tomek Mackiewicz from a crevasse.

Tomek Mackiewicz fell 50 meters deep into the crevasse breaking a rib and possibly his leg. The polish climber was under treatment at a hospital in Gilgit.

Karrar Haidri said the weather could change in seconds. The wind could howl and run wild; it could dump cubic meters of snow.

Many mountaineers have tried but lost in the middle of their expeditions.

“It’s a different ball game in winters, especially for climbers who have not attempted the 8,126 meters high peak in winters,” said Elizabeth Revol.

The official also quoted American mountaineer Ian Overton, who attempted Nanga Parbat in the winters of 2012-2013 as saying, “The Mountain needs to be attempted before the first week of February or else the storms just get nasty.”

According to ACP, in the past more than 80 per cent winter expeditions reached the highest points on the mountain before February 10.

However, the four-member Russian team was still on the mountain.

Their ascent was thwarted by a snowstorm but they had climbed as high as 7,150 meters on Schell route.

It was not clear yet if they would be reaching for the top because weather was expected to hit again.

Italian climber Daniele Nardi too was waiting for avalanches to ease up, the ACP said.

His kitchen tent collapsed under the weight of the snow after the recent snowstorm.

Published in Dawn February 3rd , 2015

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