MicroPakistan

As some of you might remember this was big news a couple of years ago when the Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar was stranded on top of Nange Parbat. Two Pakistan pilots carried out a deadly rescue mission to save him. They are now being awarded Slovenia’s top award for bravery. People of such courage who go against all odds to save the life of an unknown foreigner are our real heroes and we should be truly proud that they are one of us.

BBC NEWS, Friday 15 June.

Two Pakistani pilots who carried out a daring rescue of a mountaineer are to be given Slovenia’s top award for bravery, Pakistani officials say.

Slovenian Tomaz Humar got stranded on the western end of the 8,125m Nanga Parbat mountain in the Himalayas two years ago.

He remained for around a week on top of the world’s ninth-highest peak.

The helicopter pilots plucked the 38-year-old from an icy ledge 6,000m up the peak known as “killer mountain”.

The Slovenian president will present Lt Col Rashid Ullah Beg and Lt Col Khalid Amir Rana with the Golden Order for Services in the country’s capital, Ljubljana, this month “for risking their lives during the rescue mission”, a Pakistan army statement said.

Isolated

Correspondents say that Mr Humar - climbing alone - was saved in one of the most daring rescue operations carried out by the Pakistani air force.

He was unable to get off the mountain after slipping onto an isolated icy ledge, and was further constrained by a combination of altitude sickness and poor weather, the army said in its statement.

He was further endangered by falling rocks and avalanches.

At the time the rescue operation was “unprecedented” at such a height, the army said.

The statement said he would not have been rescued if it had not been for the pilots’ “incredible professional skills and undaunted courage”.

BBC News report of 10 August 2005. This talks about how the rescue mission was carried out almost two years ago.

Climber rescued from major peak

Pakistani troops have rescued a renowned Slovenian mountaineer stuck under a narrow ice ledge on one of the world’s highest peaks for six days.

Tomaz Humar was trapped by bad weather on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan at a height of nearly 6,000m.

He was unable to untie his rope, which had to be severed as an army helicopter carried him away to safety.

It is believed to be one of the few successful rescues carried out at such a high altitude.

“He is absolutely all right,” military spokesman Col Atique Rehman is quoted as saying by Reuters.

Mr Humar is reported to have been taken to a hospital in the northern town of Gilgit. The rescue effort had been delayed because of the bad weather.

The Slovenian went up on a solo climb, on a route never scaled before. He became trapped on 4 August.

Mr Humar had been in a snow cave with little food and trapped by avalanches.

Grim conditions

Nanga Parbat is the most dangerous mountain in the world, officials say.

“We’ve been worried all along. He reported his sleeping bag and clothing getting wet and he says he’s very cold at night,” Nazir Sabir told the BBC’s World Today programme earlier.

“The area where he is stuck is very delicate and very steep. It’s probably one of the most complicated rescue operations in Himalayan history,” he said.

Nazir Sabir runs a Himalayan expedition outfit and is a close friend of Mr Humar.

He said Mr Humar was carrying minimum rations because he wanted to climb as light as possible.

The 8,125m Nanga Parbat peak - the westernmost in the Himalayan range - was first scaled in 1953 but only after 31 people had died trying to climb it.

Risky route

Mr Humar is no stranger to the hostile conditions on Nanga Parbat.

Two years ago, he made four attempts to scale the mountain from the Rupal face - considered the most dangerous of the three routes to the top.

He had to abandon the attempts through ill health.

The route he chose this time along the Rupal face can be climbed by “only one in 1,000″, mountaineers say.

According to his website, Mr Humar, 36, has completed 1,500 ascents.