Two members of the ill-fated K6 expedition are safely back in Base Camp.
Guillaume Pierrel, 42, of France, died in an avalanche yesterday on K6. Porters brought his body on foot down to Camp 1, outfitter Ishaq Ali told ExplorersWeb. Weather permitting a helicopter will fly out the survivors and recover Pierrel’s remains tomorrow.
Pierrel’s partners, Christina Lustenberger of Canada and Boris Langestein of France, survived the slide and are down the mountain. Ishaq Ali says they are not injured. (Local Pakistan media originally called them Christina Maria and Boris Jule — their first and middle names.)
Christina Lustenberger was a regular skiing partner of Pierrel’s. Together, they carved extreme ski lines on Mount Cook, Mount Robson, the Alps, and elsewhere. For Langenstein, the day that Pierrel died also marks the first anniversary of his own ski descent of Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face, with Tiphayne Duperier.
Pierrel and Lustenberger after skiing down Mount Robson in the Canadian Rockies. Photo: Robson Film
Friends mourn
Pierrel was a mountain guide and extreme skier, born in the Vosges region of France but based in Chamonix. Here, a shocked climbing community is mourning his loss.
“I can’t believe it… no more push-ups, no more training, no more pizzas after a long day up there,” good friend Lucien Bocansaud posted on Instagram. Bocansaud described Pierrel as a perfectionist, always overflowing with new projects, and a true inspiration.
