Spanish climber killed

29 July 2004

ISLAMABAD – A Spanish climber died while descending an 8,080 meter (26,469 feet) mountain in Pakistan’s mighty Karakoram ranges, the Spanish embassy said Thursday.

Jose Antonio Anton Lopez, 30, was returning from the summit of Gasherbrum 1 on Sunday when he slipped and fell 700 meters to his death from 7,400 metres, a diplomat said.

Gasherbrum 1 is the world’s 11th highest mountain and Pakistan’s number three peak and lies on a remote and uninhabited stretch of the border with China.

“The body has not been found because the area where the mishap occurred is inaccessible,” deputy head of mission, Mas Vicente said.

More than 1,300 climbers and trekkers from around the world have converged on Pakistan’s Karakoram and Himalayan ranges this season to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations of the assault on K2, the world’s second highest peak, near Gasherbrum 1.

Some 43 climbers reached K2 this week ahead of the golden jubilee on Saturday, the first people to scale its 8,611 metre (28,250 feet) peak in three years. Among them was the first Spanish woman to reach the summit, Edurne Pasaban.

Lopez is the fifth climber to die on Pakistan’s mountains this year.

A German died while descending Nanga Parbat, the country’s second highest peak, earlier this month and in early June three South Korean climbers on K2 were killed by an avalanche at 6,600 metres.

Pakistan is home to five of the world’s peaks over 8,000 metres and lies on the convergence of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Pamir ranges.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news