Dutch survivor of K2 avalanche describes ordeal

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'Up there it was hell'
Confortola was in satellite phone contact and climbing down on foot, despite frostbite, helped by a team from a base camp. Shahzad Qaiser, a top ministry official, said another helicopter rescue of Confortola would be attempted Tuesday morning, weather permitting.

The Italian had reached a camp at 19,000 feet by Monday evening and was eating and getting oxygen, a guide at base camp told Italy's SKY TG 24 TV. ANSA news agency reported that he had spoken to his brother Luigi on the phone.

"Up there it was hell," the Italian mountaineer was quoted as telling his brother. "My hands are fine, while my feet are black from frostbite. Anyway I can walk and I want to descend to the base camp."

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Agostino Da Polenza of Everest-K2-CNR, an Italy-based high-altitude scientific research group, also spoke to Confortola on Monday and quoted him as saying: "I never gave up in my life, I am surely not going to give up now."

Van Rooijen, 40, placed some fault with organizers and fellow climbers. On the fogbound glacier below the Bottleneck, he said, he spent hours searching for Camp Four, where a Nepali team member was waiting for him.

He said other expeditions had failed to keep a promise to mark the way with flags. His team had hauled up 400 yards of the rope for the gully, he said.

"The plan was OK," he said, "but finally some climbers did not take their responsibility and then accidents like this happen very easy," he said.

Van Rooijen said a Serbian expedition was part of this plan, but Nazir Sabir, whose Alpine Club of Pakistan helped organize the Serbian expedition, said he was unaware of any such arrangement.

For one climber delirium sets in
Sabir, who became a national hero after climbing K2 in 1981, said 22 people had scaled K2 on Saturday, and as they made their way down an avalanche carried away roped fixed about 1,150 feet below the peak, sweeping some climbers to their deaths and stranding others where they would likely succumb to exposure.

By the time he stumbled into the next camp on Sunday, where rescuers were waiting with tents, food and water, van Rooijen said he was delirious. He was flown to safety on Monday morning in a Pakistan army-operated helicopter with fellow Dutchman Cas Van de Gevel.

The reported toll from the avalanche was the highest from a single incident on K2 since at least 1995, when seven climbers perished after being caught in a fierce storm. About 280 people have climbed K2 since 1954, when the summit was first reached. Dozens have died trying.

Van Rooijen, who suffered a broken arm and head injuries from a rockfall during an attempt on K2 in 1995, said his latest ordeal left him with severe frostbite that could cost him several toes. He said he would continue climbing.

The French climber presumed dead, Hugues d'Aubarede, relayed an account of the climb that was posted on a blog. His last message, from the foot of the Bottleneck, was: "I would love it if everyone could contemplate this ocean of mountains and glaciers. They put me through the wringer, but it's so beautiful. The night will be long but beautiful."

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