Canadian mountaineer Gabriel Filippi quit an eleven-man expedition to Nanga Parbat hours before Taliban terrorists massacred the 10 other climbers and their guide on Saturday.
The attack happened at a camp near the summit of Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth-highest peak at more than 8,000 metres.
Filippi had left the camp earlier in the day to return to Islamabad, after deciding to focus on his family, according to reports.
He had left for Pakistan earlier this month with plans to scale Nanga Parbat and K2.
It was only when he returned to Montreal on Sunday that he learned gunmen had shot and killed all of his colleagues.
A tour company official present during the attack said gunmen dressed as policemen ordered tourists out of tents late on Saturday night, and shot them.
The foreign victims included two Chinese nationals, one person from Lithuania, one from Nepal, two from Slovakia, three from Ukraine, and one person with a joint US-Chinese citizenship.
The Pakistani Taliban later took responsibility for the attack, claiming it was in retaliation for the death of its second in command in a US drone strike in May.
The Lithuanian victim, Ernestas Marksaitis, was Filippi’s climbing partner and the Quebecer paid homage to his companion.
“I … want to especially honour my climbing partner Ernestas and other climbers who died, with whom I shared a cup of tea, chatted or helped on the mountain,” Filippi said.
