The families of missing mountaineers Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, John Snorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile have decided to continue the search and rescue mission on K2 even though the weather is getting harsher.
The search and rescue mission had come to a halt after 72 hours due to bad weather.
The mountaineers went missing Saturday during their K2 expedition.
K2 was the last 8,000 metre peak unclimbed in winter until a team of 10 Nepali summited earlier this year.
Rao Ahmad, Ali Sadpara’s long-time friend and Sajid Sadpara, Ali Sadpara’s son, along with British-American climber, Vanessa O’Brien, who also serves as Pakistan’s Goodwill Ambassador and summited K2 with Snorri, have formed a virtual base camp to ensure a thorough search-and-rescue effort.
O’Brien released a statement on behalf of the families of John and Pablo, thanking everyone who expressed interest in their climb and concern for their wellbeing.
Those who prayed for their safety and offered ideas and thoughts on the use of drones and search locations, we heard you and appreciate the care, concern and compassion you showed, the statement read.
The families have requested the Pakistan government continue to provide search and rescue support, weather permitting.
Conditions on K2 are harsh: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).
With Pakistan´s borders open and few other places to go, this winter an unprecedented four teams totalling around 60 climbers converged on the mountain, more than all previous expeditions put together.
Unlike Mount Everest, which has been scaled by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is much less travelled due to its tough conditions.
