Good news from Nanga Parbat. Asif Bhatti, stranded and snowblind on the upper slopes of the mountain since Monday, is finally safely in Base Camp.
Today, assisted by Mohammed Younis and Fazal Ali, Bhatti went through the technical sections below Camp 2 and reached Camp 1. After a break, he continued toward Base Camp, where he has just arrived.
The mountain is deserted, except for one of the Italian climbers and Juan del Toro, who made it back to Base Camp yesterday, and Santiago Quintero of Chile.
“Everyone else has left,” Kiani said. She did not reach Base Camp as planned because of the continued bad weather. In the end, the further assistance of Sajid Sadpara and Hugo Ayaviri was not needed.
Meanwhile, earlier today, Israfil Ashurli from Azerbaijan was descending from Camp 2. Ashurli stood by Asif Bhatti since he found him snowblind in Camp 4 on Monday. He helped him down to lower camps and surely saved his life as the weather deteriorated. Younis and Fazal Ali went up and met the descending climbers between Camp 3 and Camp 2 last night.
Badly in need of rest after three sleepless nights, Ashurli remained in Camp 2 a bit longer this morning than the others. He then proceeded down on his own. We have just received word that Ashurli reached Base Camp.
