Conflicting reports on K2 tragedy; climbers' bodies may remain on mountain

By Paul Roberts, Outside Online

A body believed to be that of Scottish climber Alison Hargreaves was reportedly spotted on K2 by survivors of Sunday's high-altitude disaster.

Hargreaves and five other climbers--Rob Slater of Boulder, Bruce Grant of New Zealand, and as many as three unidentified members of a five-person Spanish team--went missing and presumably died late on August 13 after summiting K2.

Pakistani officials say they believe the five were swept by an avalanche, although reports from basecamp to Outside Online on Wednesday noted high winds and extraordinary cold contributed to the deadly accident. A sixth climber, Jeff Lakes of Calgary, died that night after descending to a lower camp.

On Friday, Nazir Sabir, a Pakistan expedition outfitter, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that climbers in the area believed they had seen Hargreaves' body on the 28,251-foot mountain, but were unable to retrieve it.

"It was totally out of their reach and in a dangerous position," Sabir told BBC.

Only one of the victims--Lakes--has been positively identified. On Thursday, Scott Fischer, a Seattle-based climber who had been leading an expedition up neighboring Broad Peak, told Outside Online that Lakes had been buried in the snow by his surviving teammates.

According to Fischer, Lakes and fellow climber Peter Hillary had been on a summit bid Sunday morning with Hargreaves and five others but the pair had turned back.

Hillary returned safely to base camp. But Fischer said that Lakes, who turned back after Hillary did, encountered a series of horrific obstacles--including an avalanche at high camp--during his lone descent, and died shortly after reaching a lower camp.

Even six days after the tragedy, details remain sketchy and reports conflicting. The Associated Press reported Friday that two Spaniards were dead, while friends of the Spanish team in Spain told Outside Online that the team may have had six members.

Nor is there certainty as to how the accident took place. Fischer was not sure whether the avalanche that swept over Lakes at high camp was the one that reportedly hit Hargreaves and the other victims.

Fischer said that two surviving Spanish climbers who had stayed behind at high camp Sunday morning reported seeing at least one body between high camp and Camp 3, at an altitude of between 26,000 and 24,500 feet, as they made their own harrowing descent.

The identity of that climber has not yet been determined. According to the Associated Press, Sabir told ITN television news on Friday that he had talked with a member of the climbing party who said "he could see Alison's body hanging somewhere out of reach."

Fischer said Thursday that it was unlikely that any bodies would be brought down off the mountain, because any such recovery operation would expose more climbers to risk. Fischer also said that with Sunday's accident, the death toll on K2 this season stands at nine.

In Britain, meanwhile, Jim Ballard, husband of the 33-year-old Hargreaves and father of their two young children, told the BBC he still held out some hope that his wife might be alive, but was preparing himself for the worst.

"I've been rehearsing this dreadful day for nearly 10 years," he told the BBC.

This story prepared by Outside Online