Two New Zealanders, who had come to Pakistan on a mountaineering expedition, were reported missing on Sunday, confirmed an official of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Martin Walter Schmidt and Denali Walter Schmidt went missing on the afternoon of July 28 while on an expedition to scale the world’s second highest mountain, K-2.
Martin along with his son Denali had successfully reached CampIII at 7,400 metres on July 25 even though the rest of the climbers had decided to descend the peak.
The accompanying Sherpas had turned back because of adverse weather conditions and the threat of being hit by an avalanche. Avalanches had reportedly struck CampIV, present at 8000 metres.
On the afternoon of July 26, base camp group leader Australian Christopher Mellor Madden Warner lost contact with the Kiwi mountaineers.
A Nepali Sherpa, who was sent to CampIII a day later to ascertain the location of the Kiwi mountaineers, reported on July 28 that they were nowhere to be seen in the CampIII tent.
He said the tent showed signs of having been hit by an avalanche. However, the mountaineer’s ice axes and crampons were found intact.
Search for the missing mountaineers is set to start today (Monday) with assistance from the base camp.
Martin and Denali were on a mission to summit K-2 after successfully climbing BroadPeak two weeks earlier.
