SPANISH TRAGEDY ON GASHERBRUM II
Felix
Inurrategi is no more in Alpine world
By
Asem Mustafa Awan
ISLAMABAD
— Elite Basque mountaineer Felix Inurrategi is no more in the alpine
world but his exploits in the highlands will always be remembered.
Thirty-three-year-old
Felix met a tragic end on Gasherbrum II 8035 metres on July 28 while . He
was coming down by ropes along with his brother Alberto after reaching the
summit of Gasherbrum II
when an anchor came out with which the rope was attached. He
slipped 400 metres and his body couldn't be evacuated.
Juan
Lazkano a close associate of the climbers divulged that Felix was on his
way down from the summit of Gasherbrum-II at 8,035 metres and he was
between Camp 2 and Camp 1, an altitude between 6,000 metres to 6,500
metres.
Felix
and his brother Alberto, known as Inurrategi among the mountaineers, were
the only two climbers from the three Spanish expeditions who stayed back
on the peak while all the other climbers had left for home a few days ago.
"The
two brothers vowed that they will return only after climbing the two
Gasherbrums I & II offering 8,068 metres and 8,035 metres
altitudes," said Rashid Ahmed the local tour operator of the
expedition.
Felix
was last seen at 1:30 am coming down from Camp 2 to Camp 1 where he took
the tragic slip and went down 400 metres.
The
two brothers Felix (33) and
Alberto Inurrategi (31) were on their quest for the Himalayan Crown and
they did all the climbs together and without oxygen.
In the 14 8000ers they have climbed all the hardest ones and the remaining two in Pakistan were Gahserbrum I & II.
The
two brothers initially planned to finish their quest in Pakistan in 2000
but after making the summit of Manaslu in May, 2000 they found the weather
inhospitable on Annapurna and came to Pakistan for the Gasherbrums.
The
two stayed on the Annapurna Base Camp for three days before turning back
as the weather was not good for climbing.
"It
just happened, we were never pursuing the Himalayan Crown," said More
(wife of Juan Lazkano) who interpreted for Felix before the team's
departure for the highlands.
Felix
was also leader of the expedition.
Alberto
the younger brother of Felix said," I wanted my brother to be the
second Spanish mountaineer to finish the 14 8000ers and I would follow him
then."
There
are six climbers in the world who have the distinction of Himalayan Crown.
They include; Reinhold Messner (Italy), late Jerzy Kukuczka (Poland),
Erhard Loretan (Switzerland), Carlos Carsolio (Mexico), Krysztof Welicki
(Poland) and Juanito Oiarzabal (Basque/ Spain).
There
are a few other climbers with over 10, 8000ers vying for the same honour.
A few
excerpts from Felix Inurrategi he shared with this correspondent are here
for the readers which.
"We
have not decided whether we go to Annapurna after the two Gasherbrums or
not," said Felix adding," We will see about that in
August."
"We
are very much motivated and we feel very strong about the current
challenge and Insha Allah we will accomplish it."
The
two brothers who were down to earth in their manner also carried out a
rescue operation high on the Nanga Parbat mountain in 1999 in a very
dangerous condition.
They
reached the Nanga Parbat base camp on July 15 and found the Columbian
leader, Volker Stalbhom, who got injured above Camp 2 at 6600 metres on
July 13 and no help was in sight as other members of the expedition were
not acclimatized and experienced enough to carry out the rescue
The
Spanish team with the two brothers Felix and Alberto with members Juan
Lazkano and Jose L Timayo who
were acclimatized after scaling the Trango Tower in the region, climbed up
and brought the Columbian leader down with help coming from different
climbers on the Nanga Parbat.
Had
it not been the Inurrategi brothers the situation would have gone worse
for the Columbian leader.
The
quest of the two brothers began in year 1991 when the set feet on the
summit of Makalu (8,475 metres).
It
started a snowball for the two brothers for the 8000ers. Everest (8,848
metres) fell to them in 1992, K-2 (8,611 metres) in 1994, Cho Oyu (8,153
metres) and Lhotse (8,511 metres) in 1995, Kanchenjunga (8,598 metres) and
Shishapangma (8,013 metres) in 1996, Broad Peak (8,045 metres) in 1997,
Dhaulagiri (8167 metres) in 1998 and Nanga Parbat (8125 metres) in 1999
and Manaslu (8162 metres) in May 2000.
May
Allah rest his soul in eternal peace — Amen.
CAPTION: Felix Inurrategi (Right) with his brother Alberto before their departure for Gasherbrums I & II on June 12.— Photo by the writer