Summit and Tragedy on Nanga Parbat
Jul 2, 2004 23: 38 EST
June 30 the five Saxonians Christian, Günter, Jens, Joerg and Max (Markus Walter) as well as the two Austrians Thomas Strausz and Markus Kronthaler arrived at the summit of Nanga Parbat.
When descending in the night, at 1 am there was a radio contact between the climbers and their BC, where it stood clear that a tragic accident had occurred. Günter Jung fell and was missing. Max decided to look for him but reported between 2 and 3 am by radio to BC that the search was unfortunately unsuccessful. The climbers didn't arrive to camp 4 until the next morning, after spending one nights bivouac in the open.
The Austrians of the "Nanga Parbat Edelweiss Expedition" prepared for a rescue and made radio contact with the climbers, still remaining in C4. They had spent the night there flashing their torches to point the way for the others. All climbers except for the missing Guenter are at this point scattered between C3 and C2, planning to descend to C2 and BC the day after tomorrow.
At 65, Günter Jung was the oldest person to climb Nanga Parbat when he fell and went missing on descent.
Expedition leader Christian Walter led AlpinClub's first 8,000m expedition to Nanga Parbat in 1993. The team attempted the classical Rakhiot (Buhl) Route, but did not make the summit. Now, 11 years later, Christian made good on his vow to return. Joining him this year is his brother Markus (who has climbed four 8000ers), Jörg Stingl, the second German to climb Everest without oxygen, and Jens Triebel and Carsten Beichler, who each have made first ascents on rock climbs in Brooks Range and Grade X sport climbs. Rounding out the team was 65 year-old Günter Jung, who had 40 years of climbing experience and summited several 7,000m peaks.
Nanga Parbat lies in the Western Himalaya and is the 6th tallest mountain and the 2nd most dangerous after Annapurna. Statistically the summit/fatality rate is 28%.
Image of Günter Jung, courtesy of Alpinclub Saxen
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