ISLAMABAD/GILGIT: Another climber fell to his death on K2 on Saturday morning, said Alpine Club of Pakistan.

ACP Secretary Karar Haidri said Serge Dessureault from Canada was team leader of a five-member SK K2 and Broad Peak expedition.

“The past weeks have seen little success stories for the mountaineers in the Karakoram Range,” said Karrar Haidri.

While an Austrian veteran climber died on Ultar Peak last week after an avalanche hit his tent, three weeks ago a three-members expedition of South Korean climbers were seriously injured on Latok One, forcing them to abandon their attempt.

When contacted, Sakhawat Hussain, who was managing Serge Dessureault’s expedition, said the body of the climber had been shifted to K2 memorial where he would be buried with other climbers who passed away during various expeditions.

The burial site is roughly three hours hike from the K2 base camp, he said.

Mr Hussain said the five mountaineers had started their expedition from base camp during the last week of June.

Three Canadian citizens, one UAE mountaineer and a Japanese woman climber were part of the expedition.

Serge Dessureault fell from below chimney while climbing at camp 2 and died on the spot.

“We are in touch with Serge Dessureault’s family. They will decide by tonight if they want the body flown back or buried in the mountains,” Sakhawat Hussain told Dawn.

The other four climbers who are close friends of the deceased climber have decided to return home, he said.

Serge Dessureault was a firefighter in Canada and is the first casualty on K2 this year, Mr Hussain said, adding, “this was Serge Dessureault’s second attempt on K2. Bad weather on K2 forced the Canadian climber to return home unsuccessful two years ago in 2016”.

Meanwhile, a four-member Highland expedition team and its Pakistani guide Mohammad Saleh scaled 6,700 metre high Dachkin Chich in Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Besides Mohammad Saleh, the other members of the team were Bas, Danny, Rudd and Menno. The team took 40 days to scale the summit.

Mohammad Saleh told Dawn that during the adventure,team member Danny fell seriously ill but recovered later on.

Askari Aviation helicopters were, however, on standby to rescue him if he did not recover.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2018