Outfitter Lela Peak has hired three Nepalese Sherpas to rescue Waldemar Kowalewski. The Polish climber is still stranded in a tent at 6,500m on Broad Peak after breaking his leg in an avalanche. The Sherpas left at around 11 pm Pakistan time.
Kowalewski’s accident occurred when he and two other climbers tried to descend to Base Camp after a snow storm trapped them in Camp 3 for two days. They released a snow slab; the other two escaped but Kowalewski was injured.
The two climbers, identified only as Jarek and Hassan, helped him a little way down and pitched a tent for him at 6,500m. Jarek — apparently a Polish friend of Kowalewski’s — is looking after him. They have sleeping bags and fuel for cooking.
For many hours, his situation did not improve. Snow continued to fall today, making the area even more avalanche prone. Lukasz Supergan and other climbers in Base Camp saw several slides today.
Helicopters are grounded due to the bad weather. Even if it improves, they have warned they will not fly any higher than 5,000m, roughly the altitude of Base Camp. Other Pakistani outfitters explained to ExplorersWeb that this is as high as their rescue helicopters typically go.
Lukasz Supergan. Photo: Lukasz Supergan/Facebook
Took risks
Supergan noted that Kowalewski took significant risks by going up to Camp 3 when forecasts warned of bad weather ahead. Several other climbers on the mountain, Supergan included, did rotations to Camps 1 and 2, but returned to Base Camp earlier this week.
“Kowalewski was descending in terrain highly prone to avalanches, and that was the cause of the accident,” he said.
Kowalewski’s outfitter, Lela Peak Expeditions, had a hard time finding a local team to go up on foot, but eventually hired three Sherpas. They left Base Camp at night, when the cold makes both the snow and the bare rocky sections less unstable.
