Injured climber expects rescue operation

KATHMANDU, Nepal–An American mountaineer who was injured after falling into a fissure at Camp II of Mt Himlung in Annapurna region said he was awaiting rescue operation. Prof John All suffered serious injuries on his arms and ribs, while fell nearly 43 metres down the crevasse at Camp 2 at a height of about 5,897m, according to American Climber Science Programme.

“Global rescue can’t find a helicopter so I’ll try to survive tonight. I crawled back to tent. Nlss the bleeding inside gets me, I should live,” John wrote in a blog post in the Monday evening.

Martin Coleman, one of John’s friends, commented on the blog that high altitude helicopter was queued up to fly from Lukla on Tuesday morning to rescue John. “Stay tough and keep airways and lungs open as bleeding may cause shock,” he suggested.

A five-member team of the ACSP opted to ascend 7,126 meter high Mt. Himlung after cancelling their scheduled attempt to scale Mt Lhotse following 18 April avalanche in Mt. Everest. “We are alone on the mountain; no sherpas or fixed lines, outdated route info, deep snow has hidden traces of past expeditions,” the team shared on the blog.

In the meantime, Sujan Bhattarai of Himalayan Ecstasy, local partner of the expedition, said it they are sending a rescue helicopter to save John.