GILGIT: A female climber from the Czech Republic went missing while attempting to climb Nanga Parbat (8,126m), the world’s ninth-highest peak.

Seven climbers from Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and three Nepali Sherpas summited the peak, while four foreign climbers are expected to scale the peak on Friday (today). The 13-member Seven Summit expedition team comprised Paula Birgitta Strengell from Finland, Dorota Lidia Rasinska Samocko from Poland, Klara from the Czech Republic, Jorge Egocheaga Rodriguez from Spain, Horia Dan Colibasanu from Romania, Tomaz Rotar from Slovenia, Alessandra Kate Pepper from Australia, along with five Nepali Sherpas.

They were attempting to summit Nanga Parbat.

According to the organisers, the expedition team members started their summit push from Camp 3 on Wednesday. One of the expedition members, Klara Kolouchova from the Czech Republic, began experiencing health issues at Camp 4. She aborted her expedition and started descending with one Nepali Sherpa on Wednesday night.

While descending, Klara Kolouchova fell from near Camp 2 and went missing on Thursday morning. An official of the organisers said a search operation to locate the missing climber will be launched using Pakistan Army helicopters on Friday (today). The official added that the cause of the incident is yet to be known.

Meanwhile, the other seven members of the team, Paula Birgitta Strengell from Finland, Dorota Lidia Rasinska Samocko from Poland, Jorge Egocheaga Rodriguez from Spain, Tomaz Rotar from Slovenia and three Nepali Sherpas, continued their mission and successfully summited the peak on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2025