Canadian alpinist Don Bowie and Finnish climber Lotta Nakyva were rescued by the Pakistan military from Broad Peak, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan. A photo on CTV News here shows the two climbers smiling and in good spirits.
Bowie is originally from Newmarket, Ont., but has spent the past few decades based in the U.S.A. He’s gone on to become a leading Himalayan climber and is one of only a few Canadians to have climbed K2.
The two were part of an international winter expedition to Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain. The team was led by Denis Urubko. Nkyava said after, “We got caught in a storm. My right hand was going numb, along with my toes. I was frozen to my core. We kept on climbing until somewhere around 6,600 metres when Don made the decision to set camp. Long story short, we stayed there for two nights, all digits alive, cold af, we ran out of food, low on gas (dehydration), took a beating from some winds when coming down but eventually got down yesterday to basecamp.”
Urubko said he will stay on the mountain and make a solo attempt. The climb is fixed up to 7,500 metres and he has two weeks left in meteorological winter. Last summer, Urubko soloed Gasherbrum II in 48 hours.
Nearly 20 years ago, Urubko gave up a chance to summit K2 in winter. From 7,750 metres, he descended with an ill Marcin Kaczkan back to basecamp.
