More bad news from the world of mountaineering today, as The Alpinist is reporting that Slovenia Climber Pavle Kozjek is missing on Muztagh Tower in a remote region of the Karakorum in Pakistan.
Kozjek went to the Tower, along with Dejan Miskovic and Gregor Kresal, to attempt a new route on it's unclimbed North Face. Miskovic placed a call yesterday morning to friends telling them that he and Kozjek had set up camp high on the mountain, and when Kozjek climbed out of the tent that morning, he stepped out onto a cornice and fell over the edge. At the time, it was thought that a rescue attempt could still come later in the day, but the word is now that Pavle has been lost.
ExWeb has also posted more details with the word that Miskovic is now trapped on the mountain due to high winds are preventing a helicopter rescue. Kresal was previously pulled off the mountain from BC on August 19th.
The rarely climbed Muztagh Tower stands 7273 meters (23,862 feet) in height. It's North Face, the same one that the Slovenia climbers were challenging, is more 2200 meters in height itself. It was first climbed by a British team back in 1956
August has been a horrible month for the mountaineering community. First K2, then the avalanche on Mount Blanc, and now the loss of Pavle. Lets keep our fingers crossed that Dejan is pulled of the Tower safe and sound. We don't need any more losses this month. It seems I've been saying it a lot lately, but my thoughts are with Pavle's friends and family. What a month. :(
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