A helicopter rescue is no option for Laura Dahlmeier of Germany because of bad weather, say local authorities. Dahlmeier was hit by a falling rock and fell some distance down 6,069m Laila Peak on Monday. A group of international climbers, possibly led by Thomas Huber, flew to Base Camp yesterday to start a ground rescue.
Partner safe
The accident happened at noon on Monday. Falling rocks struck Dahlmeier, 31, at 5,700m on Laila Peak, the distinctive spear-shaped mountain in the Hunza Valley. She was with regular partner Marina Krauss, also from Germany. Krauss was unharmed but couldn’t reach Dahlmeier due to the danger of further rockfall and the inaccessibility of the place where she fell. Krauss (in the embedded photo below) safely descended to Base Camp with help from local climbers.
A helicopter flew over the area yesterday morning and saw the climber with “no signs of life,” thus declaring she was “at least seriously injured.”
“The conditions at the altitude where she was injured are extremely challenging, and a team of foreign climbers will launch a ground rescue mission today,” Areeb Ahmed Mukhtar, a senior local official in Ghanche district, told the AFP news agency.
Ground rescue ongoing
The rescue team was airlifted to Laila Peak’s Base Camp yesterday.
“Helicopters from the Pakistan military are still grounded due to poor weather, including low visibility, rain, and strong winds,” Karrar Haidri, vice president of the Pakistan Alpine Club, added. “The plan is to airlift Dahlmeier to Skardu once conditions allow for extraction.”
Haidri confirmed the rescue team includes local climbers and porters, plus three Americans and a German mountaineer. Pakistan authorities have not shared the names of the rescuers, but Germany’s Bild newspaper published yesterday that the German is Thomas Huber. Huber is a friend of Dahlmaier and happens to be in Pakistan to attempt Latok III with Americans Tad McCrea and Jon Griffin. It is unclear if other climbers from the Latok III team will be involved in the rescue as well.
Ali Porik of Jasmine Tours wrote on social media that a second German climber has joined the rescue from Masherbrum. This is not yet confirmed.
Thomas Huber, right, on a summit in the Choktoi Valley near Latok III. Photo: Tad McRea
Laura Dahlmeier is an expert climber and certified rescuer and guide. Previously, she was a seven-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist in biathlon. She turned to alpinism and skimo racing after quitting professional biathlon in 2019 at age 25. Last fall, she bagged the women’s FKT on Ama Dablam in Nepal.
