Dutch survivor of K2 avalanche recalls his ordeal

Wilco van Rooijen spoke from a military hospital where he was being treated for frostbitten toes. (AP Photo)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Blinded by the glare off the snow and ice, attempting a perilous descent down K2 to save his life, the Dutch mountaineer came upon three Korean climbers.

One sat dazed in the snow. Another held a rope. The third was suspended at the other end, hanging upside down.

"They were trying to survive," the Dutch mountaineer, Wilco van Rooijen, recalled yesterday, "but I had also to survive because I was getting snow blind." He said he offered help but they declined, believing help was already on the way.

Speaking by phone with The Associated Press from a military hospital where he was being treated for frostbitten toes, van Rooijen provided a gripping account of his ordeal on K2 before he and another Dutch climber were plucked to safety yesterday.

At least 11 people were presumed dead after an avalanche on K2, the world's second-highest mountain. An Italian who was also stranded made his way down the slope with a rescue team after telling a colleague, "I am surely not going to give up now."

The Ministry of Tourism said the 11 believed dead in one of mountaineering's worst disasters included three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis and mountaineers from France, Ireland, Serbia, and Norway. It was not clear whether the three Koreans were the same described by van Rooijen.

K2, which straddles Pakistan and China in the Karakoram range, is regarded by mountaineers as far more challenging than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. K2's knife-edged ridges and icy slopes are steeper and prone to both avalanches and sudden and severe storms.

Van Rooijen said several expeditions had waited through July for good weather to scale the 28,250-foot peak and decided to go for the summit when winds dropped on Friday. As many as 30 climbers set off.

The first setback was when the climbers had to reposition fixed ropes that an advance party had mislaid across a treacherous gully 1,150 feet below the summit, he said.

"We were astonished," van Rooijen told the AP. "We had to move it. That took, of course, many, many hours. Some turned back because they didn't trust it any more."

Still, many pressed on, he said. They reached the summit only shortly before dark. In the rush to get down, groups including his own drifted apart.

As many as 10 of the fastest climbers were back in the steep gully, known as the Bottleneck, when a huge chunk of ice crashed down from above, sending a Norwegian and two Nepali sherpas to their deaths.

The ice swept away some of the ropes, making it even more dangerous for those caught above, he said.

The famed Bottleneck and a tricky section of ice known as the Traverse have been the scene of many accidents and deaths before, but not all climbers agree fixed ropes are needed to negotiate those sections. If an avalanche hits, there's little anyone can do.

Van Rooijen, among the stragglers, said he spent the night huddled in the snow with Gerard McDonnell, an Irishman, and Marco Confortola, the Italian who was making his way down the slope yesterday.

By the morning, clouds had descended, making it almost impossible for the climbers to locate each other or see their way. Van Rooijen left the other two and managed to pick his way through the gully.

He said others suffered fatal falls in a similar attempt. The Pakistan government did not give details of how the 11 climbers had perished.

McDonnell, who had taken shelter with van Rooijen at the Bottleneck, was among those believed dead. The 37-year-old was the first Irish person to reach the summit of K2.

Confortola was in phone contact and climbing down on foot, despite frostbite, helped by a team from a base camp. Shahzad Qaiser, a top ministry official, said another helicopter rescue of Confortola would be attempted this by morning, weather permitting.

The Italian had reached a camp at 19,000 feet by yesterday evening and was eating and getting oxygen, a guide at base camp told Italy's SKY TG 24 TV. ANSA news agency reported that he had spoken to his brother Luigi on the phone.

"Up there it was hell," the Italian mountaineer was quoted as telling his brother. "My hands are fine, while my feet are black from frostbite. Anyway I can walk and I want to descend to the base camp."

By the time he stumbled into the next camp on Sunday, where rescuers were waiting with tents, food and water, van Rooijen said he was delirious. He was flown to safety yesterday morning in a Pakistan army-operated helicopter.

Van Rooijen, who suffered a broken arm and head injuries from a rockfall during an attempt on K2 in 1995, said his latest ordeal left him with severe frostbite that could cost him several toes.

The reported toll from the avalanche was the highest from a single incident on K2 since at least 1995, when seven climbers perished after being caught in a fierce storm. About 280 people have climbed K2 since 1954, when the summit was first reached. Dozens have died trying.