Pakistan's Muhammad Ali Sadpara has emerged triumphant in the K2 Winter Expedition 2021 that he had announced alongside Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri weeks after their failed first attempt.
Sadpara and his team, including Snorri, successfully climbed the 8,611-metre K2 — the world's second highest mountain — after departing for their journey in the wee hours of Wednesday, a day after his birthday.
At the time of his departure, he had asked fans and admirers to "keep us in your prayers". He has since been providing updates on his Twitter account whenever the WiFi signals work.
Last night, his team left for the final summit bid, with the mountaineer saying it could "take up to 14 hours to reach the top".
Earlier today, it was reported that a foreign mountaineer was presumed killed in an avalanche as Pakistani and foreign climbers aimed for the K2 summit today. Sources had said he disappeared in a snowslide after the team's rope broke when they were on their way back from camp three.
The Pakistani climber provided updates intermittently throughout the day, urging media to be more responsible and saying in the evening that a team member, Sajid, "has reached C3" after being unable to "reach the summit because of his oxygen regulator malfunctioning".
"I just got in contact with Sajid at C3. He went out to check if there is any trace of them. He hasn't [seen] any lights or any movement," Sadpara wrote Friday night.
"He has food, sleeping bag and he is holding tight. We'll publish the news as soon as he informs us."
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