2 Utah Climbers Missing on Pakistan Mountain

Snowstorm hit when they were halfway up
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2016 3:31 AM CDT
2 Americans Missing on Pakistan Mountain
Kyle Dempster   (Nathan Smith/Pull Photography via AP)

Friends and relatives are deeply worried about two Utah men believed to be stranded on one of Pakistan's highest and toughest mountains. Accomplished mountaineers Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson set out to climb the north face of Baintha Brakk II, also known as Ogre II, on Aug. 21, and they were due back at camp a week ago, KUTV reports. Intense snowstorms around the 23,000-foot mountain have made it impossible for a rescue helicopter to get close enough to search for the men, who tried to conquer the peak last year but turned back after Adamson fell near the summit and broke his leg.

If a helicopter can spot the men—who would have run out of food and fuel by now if they're alive and stranded—a rescue team is standing by. "It's a remote area in Pakistan, not like you see with teams of people in the Himalayas," a rep of Black Diamond Equipment, which sponsored the climbers, tells CNN. "The cook is at the base camp now with two American climbers and four German-Austrian climbers [who] were on the same glacier and they are the rescue group." The men were last seen Aug. 22, when their cook spotted their headlamps around halfway up the peak, according to a GoFundMe page to help with rescue costs, which has raised more than $170,000. A storm hit the mountain the next day. (More mountain climbing stories.)

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