Pakistan Peak
ISLAMABAD: Officials expressed fear that an award-winning Russian alpinist has died after falling from one of the world’s tallest mountains in Pakistan. This incident could mark the fourth fatality in the nation’s 2023 summiting season.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) disclosed that Golovchenko likely experienced a fatal fall from the 7,925-meter Gasherbrum IV last week.
Simultaneously, his partner Sergey Nilov sustained injuries but successfully made his way back to the mountain’s basecamp. The duo had undertaken the challenging ascent, tackling a high-difficulty route.
Karrar Haidri, the ACP secretary, told AFP that Golovchenko’s wife, who had remained in contact with him throughout the climb, raised the alarm.
Haidri suspects that the seasoned mountaineer might have fallen into a crevasse. Authorities have scheduled a search operation to commence on Friday.
The Kremlin’s embassy in Islamabad corroborated reports of Russian mountaineers encountering difficulties on Gasherbrum IV and indicated that they are “in direct contact with their families.”
Dmitry Golovchenko and Sergey Nilov had previously received the prestigious “Piolets d’Or” award, often likened to the “Oscars of the mountains.”
They received this accolade in 2013 for their remarkable ascent of Pakistan’s approximately 7,300-meter Muztagh Tower. Their achievements continued with a second win in 2017 for a daring summit of India’s Thalay Sagar via an unexplored ice and rock buttress.
Hailing from “a family of alpinists,” Golovchenko had partnered with Nilov since 2002, as noted in his biography on the awards website.
Pakistan’s summer climbing season faced its first casualty when Polish national Pawel Tomasz Kopec succumbed to suspected altitude sickness while descending 8,125-meter Nanga Parbat in July.
Later the same month, a Pakistani porter lost his life as hundreds ascended the K2 summit, including Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Nepali guide Tenjin “Lama” Sherpa, who became the fastest people to summit the world’s 14 highest mountains on the same day.
