John Snorri and the Sadparas are safely in their tents at the higher Camp 2, pondering their options as the wind rises. But fake Twitter accounts impersonating both Ali and Sajid Sadpara have popped up on social media claiming that the team has reached Camp 3, which is false. To clear up the confusion, here are the facts, straight from Base Camp:
The climbers reached Camp 2 (6,800m) this afternoon, as shown on John Snorri’s tracker. They were so far behind schedule that their plan to summit tomorrow at 9 am was already unrealistic.
Ali and Sajid have not used O2 so far, Ali’s assistant, Rao Ahmad, told ExplorersWeb. But they have not claimed that they will try to reach the summit that way. “Life comes before glory,” said Ali Sadpara before the expedition started.
Nor is it true (for the moment) that they have turned around and are descending. In fact, Snorri’s tracker — which had been off for a while, perhaps needing a switch of batteries — is on again and locates the climber still at 6,831m.
“Wind is catching up,” Rao Ahmad just tweeted. “The team is waiting out the weather and assessing the situation. They haven’t decided to go down yet!”
Pakistani authorities have denounced the fake accounts impersonating the Sadparas. The Tourist Police of Gilgit-Baltistan is currently trying to inform the media that Muhammad Ali Sadpara’s only actual account is this one.
We’ll update further as real news comes in.
