Askari Aviation chopper heading toward BC, with K2 in background. Image by Chris M. Warner, courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson's blog (click to enlarge).
Marco Confortola is in Skardu. Image of Marco courtesy of montagna.org
Image of K2's rescue, by Chris M. Warner, courtesy of Veikka Gustafsson's blog.
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K2 wrap-up: Marco airlifted - account of descent
Posted: Aug 06, 2008 01:19 pm EDT
(K2Climb.net) Don't forget to check last night's ExWeb specials on the history of K2 and a report on Fredrik Strang.
As for news from the mountain, Marco Confortola and Roberto Manni were evacuated to a hospital in Skardu earlier today. The weather had worsened but Pakistani pilots took advantage of a short break to airlift the Italian climbers. A brief stop-over at the military base in Paiju allowed the chopper to return and perform another rescue on K2’s glacier.
Marco is currently being treated for severe frostbite.
Home in two days
"My feet are black and hurt, but doctors are optimist,” Confortola told Montagna.org in a call from the hospital. After talking to the medical team, Confortola decided to return to Italy asap for further treatment.
"Marco is flying to Islamabad tomorrow, and should be home one day later," Marco's brother Luigi told ExplorersWeb. Confortola received first aid on arrival in BC yesterday, while bad weater kept the rescue helicopter grounded.
A devastating experience
While in BC, he also spoke of the last seven days spent struggling for his life on the mountain, which he describes as a devastating experience, according to Montagna.org. Disoriented on descent, Marco spent the first night in the open together with Gerard, since they considered that going down the steep slopes in the dark was too risky.
Eventually they were met by Wilco, and the three resumed the descent. Shortly after, the falling serac took Gerard. "I saw my friend Gerard's boots falling among the blocks of ice and snow," Marco said. "That was the worst moment." Confortola states Pemba found him and took him to C4, thus saving his life.
Dutch Wilco told journalists, from another room in the same Skardu hospital, that people panicked on descent and lost their way. Also Wilco’s mate Cas is in the hospital, while Pemba, Mark, Roeland and Jelle are packing up in BC.
Farris and Singaporeans staying?
“Base camp now seems to be like a cage that everyone wants to escape,” Nick Rice reported yesterday. “The Koreans are hiring a few helicopters to take them out rather than walking. The Americans, Dutch, Serbian (Hoselito), and Norwegians are all waiting on porters to arrive so that they can head down. Very few people are considering staying and trying again. The Singaporeans, who arrived in base camp in mid-July, are reflecting within, and deciding whether to give K2 another try. Mike Farris, one of the Americans, is also considering staying in base camp, and seeing whether the conditions on the mountain improve. And finally, there is an American Ski Team who just arrived here from Broad Peak, and may still give it a shot.”
“No one is in any mood to think of a possible summit attempt,” the Singaporean team reported yesterday. "We have to wait until things are more settled here," team member Ed said.
Pakistan's air rescue services:
Askari Aviation
Links to teams in K2 2008:
Wilco van Rooijen's Norit K2 expedition
Serbian Vojvodinean expedition
Gerard McDonnell's dispatches
Marco Confortola's updates
Singapore expedition
Cecilie Skog's updates
Nick Rice's dispatches
Mike Farris expedition's website
Hugues d'Aubarede
Zerain's team blog.
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