Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain in the world, is known as the Killer Mountain for a reason.
It has claimed the lives of more than 80 climbers since the first attempt in 1895.
Nanga Parbat is a mountain of extreme beauty and extreme danger, where the weather can change in an instant and the altitude can take a deadly toll.
Who is Asif Bhatti?
Asif Bhatti is a Pakistani mountaineer and a university professor from Islamabad.
He has been climbing since 2015 and has attempted several peaks in Pakistan, including Broad Peak in 2021.
Asif Bhatti is also a member of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the national mountaineering federation.
He joined a local team led by Jabbar Bhatti to summit Nanga Parbat in 2023, but got stranded at Camp 4 due to snow blindness.
He is one of the few Pakistani climbers who have attempted Nanga Parbat, the Killer Mountain.
How did Asif Bhatti get stranded on Nanga Parbat?
Asif Bhatti, a university professor from Islamabad, was part of a local team that aimed to summit the 8,126-metre peak via the Kinshofer route, a classic route on the Diamir face.
He reached Camp 4, located at around 7,500 metres, but could not descend further due to snow blindness, a condition caused by prolonged exposure to bright sunlight reflecting off snow, which damages the cornea of the eye and causes temporary vision loss.
He was stuck there for days, alone and helpless, while a rescue operation was launched, involving Pakistani military helicopters and Polish climbers from a nearby K2 expedition.
However, the rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather and high winds.
A helicopter could not reach him unless he came down to around 6,000 metres or lower.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan was in contact with him and tried to coordinate the rescue.
Who else was on Nanga Parbat and what happened to them?
Meanwhile, some other climbers had successfully summited Nanga Parbat and returned safely to Base Camp.
These included three Polish climbers: Piotr Krzyzowski, Pawel Kopec, and Waldemar Kowalewski; and one Albanian-Kosovan climber: Uta Ibrahimi.
They all climbed independently and without supplementary oxygen.
Unfortunately, there was also a report of a Polish climber Pawel Kopec who died of Acute Mountain Sickness in a high camp, possibly Camp 4.
He was apparently part of the Seven Summit Treks team, which also included Uta Ibrahimi.
Why is Nanga Parbat called the Killer Mountain?
Nanga Parbat, which means “Naked Mountain” in Sanskrit, is also known as the Killer Mountain because of its high number of climber fatalities and its extreme difficulty and danger.
It has claimed the lives of more than 80 climbers since the first attempt in 1895, making it one of the deadliest mountains in the world.
It has also been the scene of several tragedies and controversies, such as the 1934 disaster that killed 10 people, the 1970 disappearance of Günther Messner, the brother of Reinhold Messner, the 2013 massacre of 11 climbers by terrorists, and the recent death of Tomasz Mackiewicz in 2018.
Nanga Parbat is a mountain that challenges climbers to their limits, both physically and mentally, and requires respect and caution from all who attempt it.
List of Nanga Parbat deaths
- Alfred Drexel (1934)
- Willy Merkl (1934)
- Ulrich Wieland (1934)
- Willo Welzenbach (1934)
- Six Sherpas (1934)
- Hermann Buhl (1957)
- Günther Messner (1970)
- Reinhold Messner’s wife (1971)
- Karl Herrligkoffer (1977)
- Ata Ullah Khan (1982)
- Julie Tullis (1986)
- Kurt Diemberger (1986)
- Hans Kammerlander (1996)
- Tomaz Humar (2005)
- Karl Unterkircher (2008)
- Walter Nones (2008)
- Simon Kehrer (2008)
- Joel Wischnewski (2013)
- Muhammad Ali Sadpara (2015)
- Alexey Bolotov (2015)
- Alberto Zerain Berasategi (2017)
- Mariano Galvan (2017)
- Tom Ballard (2019)
- Daniele Nardi (2019)
- Pawel Kopec (2023)
Conclusion
Asif Bhatti’s story is one of survival and resilience in the face of adversity.
It is also a reminder of the risks and challenges that mountaineers face when they venture into the high-altitude wilderness.
Nanga Parbat is a mountain that demands respect and caution from all who attempt it.
It is a mountain that can kill or inspire.
