Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali are descending under their own steam. According to the latest reports, they have reached Camp 3 on Nanga Parbat. A small team (at least one Sherpa and a Pakistani climber) are on their way up with food and drinks.
Kashif and Fazal, climbing independently, summited Nanga Parbat yesterday morning. They were caught in bad weather on descent and spent a night somewhere around 7,300m. They lost contact with Base Camp at some point in the day, so their wehereabouts were unclear. They have resumed their descent today, as the weather improved.
Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali. Photo: Shehroze Kashif
Climbers in Base Camp confirmed to ExplorersWeb that it was rainy yesterday (and possibly snowy higher up) but conditions seem to be improving today.
A new summit push
Tunc Findic. Photo: Tunc Findic
Down in Base Camp, the remaining climbers were mostly unaware of the situation. “There was some alarm yesterday, but I can’t tell exactly how things are today,” Tunc Findic told ExplorersWeb.
Findic is hoping to finish his no-O2 14×8000’er quest on Nanga Parbat and is preparing for his summit push. “We are starting for camps 1 and 2 today, and tomorrow will be our final summit attempt,” Findic said. He is joining forces with other no-O2 climbers and aiming for July 9 or July 10 to summit.
There are more teams, all using supplementary O2, who may also join the upcoming push as the weather is expected to be good for the next few days. This is good news for Kashif and Fazal, since they will have the weather on their side and more people on the mountain.
