Avalanche Kills Alpinist Christian Huber on Ulter Sar

Austrian alpinist Christian Huber has been killed by an avalanche that fell on camp two on Ulter Sar in Pakistan.

The 7,338-metre peak is one of the many high altitude mountains in the Batura Muztagh, Karakoram.

According to Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, director general of the ISPR, climbers Bruce Normand and Miller Timothy from the UK were rescued alive; however, Christian Huber from Austria did not survive.

“Pakistan Army pilots in a daring mission rescued three foreign mountaineers stuck in snow avalanche at above 19000 feet high Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza. Bruce Normand & Miller Timothy from UK successfully rescued alive while Christian Huber from Austria had succumbed to avalanche.”

The three-member expedition started in late May and was permitted to go till the first week of July. The team was being managed by Higher Ground Expeditions, a tour operating company in Hunza Valley.

According to Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), Ultar peak has claimed a number of lives and seen only a few successful summits.

In January, climbers rescued a French mountaineer stranded on a Himalayan peak but called off efforts to retrieve a Polish climber who was declared dead after a dramatic rescue effort.

Elisabeth Revol and Tomasz Mackiewicz were climbing Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest peak in the world at 8,126 metres, but called for help.

Four volunteers from a separate Polish expedition set out to find them and managed to reach Revol, a renowned mountaineer who was suffering from frostbite on her feet and could not walk.

Poor weather prevented the team from reaching Mackiewicz, who had snow blindness and altitude sickness.