One climber died on July 3rd, and another needed rescue on Nanga Parbat. Polish media, wspinanie.pl reported that Paweł Kopeć died from Acute Mountain Sickness near Camp 4 at 7300 meters. He had summited with teammates Piotr Krzyżowski, and Waldemar Kowalewski. Reports from other climbers that day were of poor weather, even rain and high winds at the summit.
Similar conditions last year caused most professional climbers to abandon Nanga. And even this year, seasoned professional Marco Confortola turned back, demonstrating excellent judgment in light of poor climbing conditions:
Nanga Parbat 2023: Yesterday 2/07 Marco and a good group of mountaineers who were climbing without oxygen, just from the summit they decided to go back to C3. It seems that leaving the group was a strong wind in altitude. They really needed a blow and they made this decision, aware of the unclear situation. Back in C3, Marco let me know he’s okay. Seems like he wants to try again . They will also decide based on the weather.
Pakistani climber Asif Bhatti reportedly became snowblind and was stranded at 7300m at Camp 4. His son, Wasif Bhatti, issued a video message to the government, army aviation and relevant authorities to conduct a rescue mission and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ordered the rescue.
Karakorum Expeditions, which ran the expedition logistics (not guiding), said a helicopter was on standby at the basecamp on Tuesday while Asif Bhatti with Azerbaijan climber, Isfrafyl, started descending from C4 to C3. Some reports have them at C3. Adding to the all-hands-on-deck rescue scenario, Shah Daulat, who summited Nanga Parbat on Jun 26 without oxygen, and another climber, Muhammed Yunus, are ready to be dropped at C2 by helicopter to provide further assistance to Bhatti.
In another report, yet unconfirmed, Pakistani media reports that a Spanish climber died from a heart attack, but no names or teams were provided. This could be a false report based on poor information from the mountain.
Other teams reported summits on July 4. Elite claimed 16 summits with six clients supported by ten Sherpas or a ratio of 1:1.7. That puts the 2023 Nanga total well sixty, with Seven Summits Treks claiming 29 of the total (15 clients with 14 Sherpas.)
More teams have arrived at K2 Base Camp, and some reports suggest the fixed rope has reached Camp 2.
Climb On!
Alan
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