Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara reported missing on K2 expedition

Pakistan Army helicopters are conducting a search operation to trace missing mountaineer Ali Sadpara and his team members who are on the K2 expedition.

Sadpara has successfully climbed the 8,611-metre K2 — the world’s second highest mountain — during the K2 Winter Expedition 2021, it emerged Friday, a month after their first attempt failed.

Sadpara and his team had departed for their journey a day after his birthday in the wee hours of Wednesday, asking fans and admirers to “keep us in your prayers”. He has since been providing updates on his Twitter account whenever the WiFi signals work.

But it has been several hours since anyone last heard from Sadpara.

Pakistani actor and singer Fakhar-e-Alam tweeted about the missing climbers too, requesting his followers to pray for their recovery.

A search operation was launched due to the delay in the return of the K2 team headed by Pakistani mountaineer Sadpara.

Disturbing News. Our national hero Ali Sadpara & his team members lost contact & are now declared missing on K2. Pakistan Army search & rescue is on the job. At this time I ask you all to please take a moment to pray for the missing mountaineers.#k2winterexpedition2021 #K2winter pic.twitter.com/6R6RR6DzQ2

— Fakhr-e-Alam (@falamb3) February 6, 2021

Sources said Sadpara and his team were to reach camp three by 2pm. But communication with the team has been lost for the last several hours.

Bulgarian climber dies on K2 expedition

News of the mountaineers going missing comes several hours after a Bulgarian mountaineer fell to his death during the same K2 expedition.

He was the second person to die on the world’s second-highest mountain in weeks.

Seven Summit Treks — a trekking company leading the expedition — said Atanas Skatov, 42, fell as he was changing ropes during his descent to basecamp.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan also confirmed the incident, saying his body was later recovered and flown by a Pakistani military helicopter to the nearby city of Skardu.

Skatov is the second climber to die on K2’s slopes this season after a Spanish mountaineer fell to his death last month.

A third climber — Russian-American Alex Goldfarb — also died on a nearby mountain during an acclimatising mission ahead of a bid to scale Broad Peak in January.

K2 is known as the “Savage Mountain” because of its punishing conditions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour (125 miles per hour), and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).

With Pakistan’s borders open and with few other places to go, this winter an unprecedented four teams totalling around 60 climbers have converged on the mountain, more than all previous expeditions put together.

Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is much less travelled.