Il nostro amato Karl ora riposa lassú, nel suo mondo, libero e sereno.
Sono sicura che da lassú guiderá me e i nostri figli con la sua mano sicura.

Un grande grazie per tutti coloro che in queste ore difficili ci stanno cosí vicino.

ore 19:50 del 19/07/2008     Silke con Alex, Miriam e Marco

NONES AND KEHRER ARE ON THEIR WAY DOWN

Finally on Sunday, Nones and Kehrer manage to make contact with base camp and with their dear ones at home.  On Saturday a satellite phone and other essential items were lowered down to them from a helicopter but for some time no contact was made.

Both of them are well and in fairly good spirits all things considered.  They have reached a position from where they can start to ski down ( see maps for route).  On Monday evening they were only 200 meters lower  than  their starting point as there is low mist and very bad visibility.  They are taking their time and not taking any more risks than necessary.

Helicopters are still on standby at base camp if necessary, but the men are confident that they will make it on their own.

NONES AND KEHRER ARE ON THEIR WAY DOWN

Finally on Sunday, Nones and Kehrer manage to make contact with base camp and with their dear ones at home.  On Saturday a satellite phone and other essential items were lowered down to them from a helicopter but for some time no contact was made.

Both of them are well and in fairly good spirits all things considered.  They have reached a position from where they can start to ski down ( see maps for route).  On Monday evening they were only 200 meters lower  than  their starting point as there is low mist and very bad visibility.  They are taking their time and not taking any more risks than necessary.

Helicopters are still on standby at base camp if necessary, but the men are confident that they will make it on their own.

SATALLITE PHONE AND OTHER ESSENTIALS REACH NONES AND KEHRER

  After a first failed attempt a helicopter has managed to get close enough to the two climbers to lower down the essentials, who are on the Rakhiot wall of the Nanga Parbat.  On the first attempt the  helicopter was too heavy so the sack of goods had to be dropped at speed and went lost. All unnecessary equipment and the seats of the helicopter were removed allowing the two pilots to get closer and lower down the sack, which landed about 10 to 20 meters from where Nones and Kehres tent is positioned.

Agostino Da Polenza says,” The problem now is that it is impossible to rescue the men from where they are at the moment, as the helicopter cannot take the weight at this altitiude.  It seems that the best chance may be for Nones and Kehrer to descend back to around 6500m not far from where Karls  tragic incident happened, where a possible suitable place for a rescue attempt has been sighted.”

NONES AND KEHRER -  TENT SIGHTED

Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer are awaiting help in a tent.  Reinhold Messner says it could be possible to reach them with a helicopter after speaking to the Pakistani guide at the base camp.

Messner comments, “ two helicopters with excellent pilots have arrived at the base camp, In 2005 these two pilots rescued the Slovenian climber Thomas Humar from the south wall of the Nanga Parbat. We are hopefull for the rescue of Nones and Kehrer.

WALTER NONES AND SIMON KEHRER HAVE BEEN SIGHTED

The phone call came from Agostino da Polenza the organizer of the rescue mission. The Pakistani staff at the base camp of the Rakhiot have seen Nones and Kehrer at 6800 meters.

Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon they will reach the plateau.  At that stage there will be a helicopter searching the area.

From Milan.
A few hours ago a rescue mission organized by Agostino Da Polenza departed for Pakistan.  Silvio Mondinelli and Maurizio Gallo will reach the base camp from where they will decide what will be the next move.  Offers of help are coming from all over the world, if necessary both Simon Moro and Marco Confortola who are in Karakorum and are already acclimatized are ready to help.

The Manager comments: There is no hope.

The tragedy is traumatic yet true, there is no hope. This morning at 6am Herbert Mussner, Karls manager got a phone call from the climbers satallite phone. Usually it is Karl that keeps contact but this time it was Simon who spoke. The line was bad but Simon said that Karl had fallen down a crevice and was covered with snow. After a hellish night of attempting in vain to rescue him, Simon and Walter had to continue the climb leaving Karl behind.
The tragic incident happened at around 6000m and the two remaining climbers have to continue upwards as it would be too dangerous to descend from the route they have climbed. They must reach 7000m to get off the wall and then they will try to descend via the safest and quickest route.
We know no more details about what has happened or what condition, and indeed where, Simon and Walter are. Clearly they are in great danger without their group leader who was the most experienced. The climb ahead is exceptionally difficult and dangerous, in fact nobody has every climbed this route before. Since this morning there has been no further communication with the two and it will take days for them to reach a Base Camp.

Rescue is impossible at 7000m
Because of the thin air at altitude it is impossible for a helicopter to fly at such hight. The wall is also too exposed for a helicopter to get close.

Karl Unterkircher is 38 years old, and leaves behind a wife with three young children. He is from the Val Gardena in South Tirol and was the President of the Aiut Alpin Dolomites (Mountain Rescue). In 2004 Karl climbed both The K2 and Everest and together with the other members of the expedition was honoured by the President of the Italian Republic and the Pope.