A TEAM of mountaineers set off on foot to recover the body of a Chinese climber from the world’s second-highest peak after bad weather grounded helicopter flights, a Pakistani official said.
Guan Jing was struck by falling rocks on Tuesday while descending K2, a day after reaching its summit with a group in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.
She died on the mountain, known for its treacherous slopes, frequent rockfalls and extreme weather conditions, according to Faizullah Faraq, a local government spokesperson.
He said her body lay between 100m and 150m above the advanced base camp at about 5,400m and had not yet been retrieved.
K2 rises 8,611m above sea level and is widely regarded as one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks to climb, with a far higher fatality rate than Mount Everest.
“The weather is currently not suitable for a helicopter flight, which is why the body has not yet been brought down” from the mountain, he said.
Faraq said Jing was part of an expedition organised by a Nepali company. — AP
