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K2: Base Camp safety for van Rooijen, Van de Gevel and Pemba Sherpa. Confortola in C2

Wilco van Rooijen, Cas Van de Gevel and Pemba Sherpa have reached Base Camp, Marco Confortola is in Camp 2.

PlanetMountain

August 2008

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arch. R. Benet - N. Meroi

The news was published at 1.30 K2-time on www.noritk2.nl, the Dutch expedition site which is continuously running updates from Base Camp and K2. And the news is a good one: the Dutch mountaineers Wilco van Rooijen, Cas Van de Gevel and Pemba Sherpa have reached the safety of Base Camp, while Marco Confortola is in Camp 2.

According to www.noritk2.nl, van Rooijen and de Gevel returned to BC with support team members Roeland van Oss and Jelle Staleman and on arrival received immediate medical attention from the American expedition. They

Expedtition leader Wilco van Rooijen had been proclaimed missing after having spent the night in a bivy at 8300m together with Marco Confortola, but thanks to his satellite phone call he was subsequently retraced last night between Camps 4 and 3 on the Cesen route by Van de Gevel and Pemba Sherpa.

De Gevel, Pemba Sherpa and Confortola had previously managed to climb past the Bottleneck and reach Camp 4 on K2's shoulder, despite the fixed ropes having been swept clear by a serac fall. Today the two descended to Base Camp, helped by the other Dutch mountaineers who carried out a great and courageous rescue operation.

Marco Confortola's situation is deemed under control: according to both the Dutch website and montagna.tv Confortola is currently in Camp 2 will probably descend to Base Camp today.

These are the only certainties at the moment and to date there is no definite analysis of how many mountaineers are feared lost on K2. www.noritk2.nl reports they have no news of 3 mountaineers, while montagna.tv reports news of some Koreans who reached BC today that at 8.00 an avalanche hit 7 mountaineers above the Bottleneck after the serac fall had swept away the fixed ropes.

At present any analysis about the number of missing climbers is fragmented as there are no absolute certainties. Getting a clear and definite picture of the situation is nigh on impossible. Hopes are high that in the course of today and tomorrow are clearer picture will arise, in particular for those at home attending news of their family and friends

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