The bodies of the three missing winter climbers, Pakistani Ali Sadpara, Icelander John Snorri, and Chilean Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto have been found near the Bottleneck.
Sherpas from Madison Mountaineering, Masherbrum Expeditions treks and Tours found them 300 meters below the Bottleneck, 300 meters above Camp4.
Akhbar Syed of Lela Peak and a second source, both currently in K2 Base Camp, have confirmed that the third and last body of the climbers who went missing last February 5 has been found.
Garrett Madison, currently in Camp 3, confirmed to ExplorersWeb that his Sherpa rope-fixers found two bodies above Camp 4 — Muhammad Ali Sadpara’s and seemingly John Snorri’s.
The third body would thus be Juan Pablo Mohr’s.
Madison’s and several other teams are pushing for the summit of K2 tonight and tomorrow. It is the first time that climbers have ventured higher than Camp 3, since the sad events that took place six months ago.
Ali Sadpara’s son, Sajid, reached Camp 4 earlier today, with his two partners, Elia Saikaly and Pasang Kaji Sherpa.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the deceased climbers were found around the base of the Bottleneck. We are currently trying to confirm this.
Winter K2: What Happened on February 5
Back on February 5, Ali Sadpara, John Snorri, and Sajid Sadpara left Camp 3 for the summit, despite difficult conditions and a very short weather window. Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile followed them without O2.
Tomaz Rotar of Slovenia also set off but stopped at the edge of a huge crevasse that he considered impassable. When he met the Sadparas and Snorri, he told them of the obstacle. The three climbers decided to continue and try to find a passage somehow.
Sajid had problems with his O2 system, and his father eventually sent him back to C3. He was slightly confused when he returned, but said that he had turned around higher up the Bottleneck, above where the bodies have reportedly turned up.
Sajid Sadpara waited in Camp 3 for the rest of the day and the following night. Those in Base Camp then talked him into coming down to save his own life, because of worsening weather.
In the following days and weeks, aerial searches tried to locate the missing climbers.
There were even attempts to track them through their satphone signals. Much later, a small group of Pakistani climbers tried to go up and find them, but fierce weather forced them back.
Until now, no one has been high enough on K2 to realistically look for signs of Sadpara, Snorri, and Mohr.
Source: Angela Benavides – EXPLORERSWEB
Header: Bottleneck – K2
Note 1:
Updates from inreach messages of Elia Saikaly:
Today at 4:00 PM
We are good, back at Camp 4. Heading back up tonight to try to complete the mission.
Today at 4:00 PM
If anyone can help us get more oxygen, anyone from Pakistan with influence, people at BC leaving, we could use your help. Running low.
Today at 3:59 PM
Sajid just buried Juan Pablo. His father Ali is just above the Bottleneck. We will go up again tonight.
Note 2:
The bodies of climbers Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr were found on K2 on Monday, over five months after they went missing, Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary Karrar Haideri said in a statement.
He said that it was “very difficult” to bring the bodies down from the mountain because of the high altitude, adding that the Army Aviation was helping in this regard.