Pakistan Army rescues ailing Polish climber from K2

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - Pakistan Army has airlifted an ailing Polish mountaineer from K2 base camp to Skardu, abruptly ending his expedition owing to a disease.

Waldemar Kowalewski’s ascent to the K2 summit was cut short after he complained about a hernia that developed during a load-carrying trip to advanced K2 base camp. He was a part of the biggest international SST K2 winter expedition.

An Army Aviation helicopter evacuated the afflicted Polish climber from the world’s second-tallest mountain to Skardu, where he is being treated for hernia.

This is the second time that Kowalewski has attempted to ascent K2 — the worlds famed second-highest peak — in winter.

Sadly, both of his expeditions have ended early and abruptly due to injuries. In winter 2018-19, he was hit by a chunk of ice on his way to Camp-1.

Pakistan's northern area is considered as an ideal destination for adventure tourists who throng to the country to scale its high-altitude peaks.

Every year foreign mountaineers visit Gilgit-Baltistan, also called the "mountaineers' paradise", as five of the world's 8,000m-plus peaks are located in the region, including K-2. Unfortunately, several tragic incidents also occur to the expeditions during their missions.