Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, Karrar Haideri said in a statement that bodies of climbers Mohammad Ali Sadpara, John Snorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile were found on K2 on Monday, over five months after they went missing.
Mushtaq Mett, the base camp manager of Mashabrum Expeditions, Trek and tours Pakistan and the Madison Mountaineering K2 Expedition 2021 said that around 11 am on Monday, the METT Nepalese Sherpa rope -fixing team found the first dead body 400 m above camp 4 which was of Mohrr’s.
The second dead body was found when they were 300 m away from the bottleneck and it was Ali Sadpara’s , while another 100 m away, they found Snorri’s body.
He further said that Ali Sadpara’s son, Sajid Sadpara, is currently at Camp 4 and will be guided by the rope-fixing team to his father’s body tomorrow morning.
Sajid had earlier launched an expedition to retrieve the bodies of the three climbers. He was accompanied by Canadian filmmaker Elia Saikaly and Pasang Kaji Sherpa.
Haider also said that Snorri’s body will be shifted to Iceland at the request of his wife, Lina. Mohr’s body will also be shifted to Chile as decided by the sister and mother of the deceased climber.
Mohammad Ali Sadpara along with two other climbers, Mohr and Snorri went missing while attempting to climb World’s Second Highest peak, K2 at 8,611 meters. They were last seen on February 5 near the bottleneck on K2 as they tried to reach the summit of the mountain, Sajid Sadpara, son of Ali Sadpara was also accompanying them but he returned to camp 3 after his oxygen regulator and malfunctioned.
The three mountaineers were declared dead on February 18 after days of search efforts including the use of Pakistan Army helicopters, SAR technology and satellite imaging.
Until 2021, K2 was the only peak above 8,000 meters that had never been summited in winter and was on the radar of many mountaineers.
Ali Sadpara was the only Pakistani mountaineer to have summited eight of the 14 highest peaks in the world above 8,000 meters and made the first-ever winter ascent on Nanga Parbat.
Apart from Sadpara, Snorri and Mohr, mountaineers Atanas Skatov and Sergi Mingote Moreno were also attempting the K2 winter summit this year and lost their lives on the mountain.
Following Sadpara’s death, the Gilgit-Baltistan government had announced Rs3 million for his family and a suitable job for his son.
The establishment of Muhammad Ali Sadpara Institute of Adventure Sports Mountaineering and Rock Climbing has also been approved by the government of Gilgit Baltistan in recognition of his services to the country.
The government also decided to nominate Ali Sadpara for the highest national civil award.
