A ground team recovered the body of Pakistani climber Asma Mushtaq from Spantik Peak in Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday, nearly 10 days after she died on the 7,027-meter-high mountain.
The 34-year-old climber died August 20 while descending from the peak after suffering from high-altitude sickness.
Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary General Ayaz Shigri said a team of high-altitude climbers from Shigar began a new recovery mission Friday after earlier attempts failed because of heavy snowfall.
Shigri said the team included Mehboob, Hussain Ali, Mazahir Hussain, Mehboob Ali, Muhammad Abidin and Abbas Ali, who led the operation. The volunteers were from Arundu in Shigar and carried out the mission using their own funds.
The team started the operation at 3 a.m. Monday and found Mushtaq’s body after about eight hours of searching, at around 11 a.m.
The body was found near Camp 3 at an altitude of about 6,250 meters, Shigri said. He added that the team would take the body to Camp 2, after which Pakistan Army helicopters were expected to airlift it to Skardu once it reached the base camp.
Shigri had earlier said Mushtaq was part of a five-member Pakistani women’s expedition team that reached the summit of Spantik. The team included climbers Zoni Aslam, Zaba Shigri, Shama and Sohana.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan said Mushtaq successfully reached the 7,027-meter summit and was in good health at the time. However, she developed a serious high-altitude medical emergency at about 6,400 meters while descending.
High-altitude sickness includes several lung and brain conditions caused by a lack of oxygen, often resulting from climbing too quickly without enough time to adjust to high altitudes.
Weather changes linked to climate change have also made conditions on the peaks of the Karakoram Range more difficult for mountaineers in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Experts have said recovering a body from a high-altitude mountain, especially from above 6,000 meters, is extremely dangerous and difficult.
In many cases, bodies at such extreme heights are left on the mountain and eventually covered by snow instead of being brought down. In 2021, Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Sadpara buried the body of his father, renowned climber Ali Sadpara, at around 8,000 meters on K2.
