ISLAMABAD: The search for two climbers who went missing on the 8,126 metre ‘Killer Mountain’ has been called off, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Saturday.

During a search operation on July 1, helicopter pilots confirmed an avalanche where the two mountaineers, Alberto Zerain from Spain and Mariano Galvan from Argentina, were last spotted, ACP spokesperson Karrar Haidri said.

Mr Zerain and Mr Galacan have been unaccounted for since June 24. The duo was attempting to summit Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world, alpine style through the Mazeno Ridge.

According to the ACP, they climbed quickly and reached 5,600 metres. Despite predictions of good weather, the conditions deteriorated and were followed by heavy snowfall. The climbers were stuck in their tents for the next few days until June 23.

Mountaineers were part of 14-member foreign expedition to Nanga Parbat

The Army Aviation Authority was asked for helicopters to begin the rescue operation to locate the missing climbers.

The possibility of finding the missing climbers alive faded with each passing day, while thick cloud cover over their last reported position made aerial search difficult.

According to the ACP, their team conveyed the message that after two flights inspecting the entire edge, the helicopter returned without finding any trace of the two climbers.

“Around 6am, local time, the first helicopter flight of the army began in a new attempt to search for alpinists Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galván. The reconnaissance was carried out in two phases, with a stop in between, to refuel and continue the search.

“The helicopter has crossed the edge several times, flying as high as 7,400 metres altitude, to fix its focus on the penultimate and last known position of Alberto and Mariano, without success. In that second flight, over the last position, indicated by the tracker device on Alberto Zerain, is where pilots found a plaque of snow detached that ended up forming an avalanche. That, sadly, leads to rule out the possibility of survivors,” the team said in its statement.

Mr Zerain and Mr Galacan were part of a 14 member foreign expedition with climbers from various countries, including Italy, Spain, Korea and Argentina.

The climbers left the Nanga Parbat base camp in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district to summit the peak on June 18.

The ACP spokesperson said: “Survival at high altitudes is very difficult because of extreme weather conditions, such as strong winds and sub zero temperatures. In such harsh temperatures, a climber has roughly 24 hours to live. However, an avalanche changes everything, reducing survival time to few minutes to a couple of hours.”

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2017