A record-setting Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila on Sunday disputed claims that she could have done something to save a Pakistani porter who slipped on the narrow path near the world’s most dangerous mountain and died there hours later.
Mohammad Hassan’s death on July 27 on K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, sparked controversy when two climbers claimed that he could have been saved if all the mountaineers stopped their climb and focused on saving him.
Hassan’s death eclipsed the record set by Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila and Sherpa guide, Tenjin. Climbing K2 that day, they became the world’s fastest climbers, mounting the world’s 14 highest mountains in 92 days.
“We could not bring him down because of the snow we had that day,” Harila told the Associated Press on Sunday.
She said to Zoom from Norway, “I’m sure that if we might have had a chance to carry him down from there, everyone would have tried that. But it was impossible.”
Drone footage shows dozens of climbers pushing past the critically injured Hassan toward the summit, causing chaos. The path to the peak was jammed on July 27, which is described as the last day of the climbing season as the journey to the summit was intense.
In Pakistan, local authorities in the Gilgit-Baltistan region with jurisdiction over K2 formed a five-man committee on August 7 to investigate Hassan’s death. The committee said it was important to uncover the truth after “disturbing reports spread across various social media sites”.
The company’s director, Anwar Syed, said the 27-year-old father of three, Hassan, was hired by Pakistan-based expedition company Lela Peak and assigned to a group of Russian mountaineers.
When asked if she thought the controversy had distorted her record, Harirla said “Of course” without going into details. In the interview, she appeared disappointed at times and said she had received death threats.
She said, “We tried for hours to save him and we were in probably the most dangerous area” of K2, she said adding that she and her teammates were “taking a very, very big risk.”
Harila said Hassan slipped down the narrow road at around 2:15 a.m. on July 27 and was hanging on a rope upside down. At that time, Hassan was second in line among climbers. Harila said she was eighth and his team was seventh and ninth in line, respectively.
While trying to pull Hassan down the path, an avalanche occurred near where the rescue team was standing. After 90 minutes of attending to Hassan, Harila and a friend moved into the direction of the summit to check up on the fixing team, while her cameraman, Gabriel stayed behind to take care of Hassan.
Gabriel gave Hasan oxygen, gave him warm water, and tried to warm him up. She said Gabriel had been in the carrier with the porter for 2.5 hours but was starting to run out of oxygen. Gabriel went to the summit to meet with Harila’s Sherpas, who had more oxygen tanks. She said that other people were attending Hasan at the time.
When Gabriel reached the top, Harila asked him how Hassan was. She said Gabriel told her that he was “in very bad shape”.
As he was descending the mountain, she saw the body of Hasan lying on the path.
Harila denied claims by Austrian mountaineer, Wilhelm Stendl that we would have done more if Westerners were injured on the mountain. Steidl and German cyclist Philipp Flamig, who took drone photos, had interrupted the K2 climb earlier in the day due to bad weather conditions.
She said, “We did try to save him and we would have done just the same if it was me or anyone else that was hanging upside down there. We couldn’t have done anything more.”
Harila said Hassan didn’t seem to have proper gear or training as a high-altitude porter and that it appeared to have been his first ascent.
“It was a very tragic accident that happened on K2 that day,” Harila said. “And we feel so sorry for Hassan himself and his family, his wife and his kids and his mother.”
Hussain, the regional official, said investigators would look at the porter’s gear and training. They will also review weather conditions on July 27, including avalanches, and examine the actions of the expedition company that employed Hassan.
The investigators are questioning porters and Sherpa guides, he said, though it was not clear if foreign climbers would be interviewed as well. The team has collected relevant documents from government departments and private companies involved in the K2 ascent. Hussain said the investigators were also visiting the K2 base camp and other relevant locations.
Steindl told the AP on Saturday that he felt more could have been done to save Hassan. “Everyone would have had to turn back to bring the injured person back down to the valley.”
“I don’t want to kind of directly blame anybody,” Steindl said. “I’m just saying there was no rescue operation initiated and that’s really very, very tragic because that’s actually the most normal thing one would do in a situation like that.”
In Hassan’s home village of Tisar, friends and neighbors visited the family, offering prayers of condolence.
A childhood friend, Basharat Hussain, said Hassan had been determined to provide opportunities for his children that he never had, including an education.
“I think this is the most dehumanizing event in my life,” he said, adding that he hopes “it will not happen in the future.”
Steindl visited Hassan’s family and set up a crowd-funding campaign. After four days, donations reached more than 125,000 euros (just over $137,000).
Investigators will try to determine, among other things, whether more could have been done to save Hassan, said Sajid Hussain, deputy director of the Sports and Tourism Department of Gilgit-Baltistan. He told the AP on Sunday that investigators are to submit their findings on Aug. 22.
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