‘Killer mountain’: Czech mountaineer Klara Kolouchova dies climbing Nanga Parbat; summited Everest and K2 before
Klara Kolouchova, 46, a well-known mountaineer from the Czech Republic, has lost her life while climbing the Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world, on Thursday, around 4 am, as per an official of the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Friday.She had allegedly fallen from a height between Camp I and Camp II early on Thursday, near the Bunar Base Camp of the 8,125-metre peak in the Diamer region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).“Authorities and rescue teams were immediately alerted and dispatched. Recovery efforts are currently underway to locate and retrieve her body from the fall site,” said Karrar Haidri, vice president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, through a WhatsApp message, as reported by PTI. Klara Kolouchova was accompanied by her husband and five other team members and arrived in Pakistan on June 15 to attempt the ascent of the mountain. She was an acclaimed mountaineer and globally known as the first Czech woman to climb Mt. Everest and K2.Her last post on Instagram was on June 14 from Islamabad, with a picture of the C2 in 2024, “Last year, the Naked Mountain laid me bare. Stripped me to silence, to stillness, to soul. This is the view from C2 in 2024. This time, we aim higher. This time, we summit.”Haidri did not immediately cite a reason for her fall and ultimate demise, but local media reports indicate that it might have been triggered by an oxygen-cylinder explosion. Nanga Parbat is dubbed the “Killer Mountain” as many mountaineers die while climbing the summit regularly. The mountain derives its name from the Sanskrit words of “Nanga” and “Parvata,” which directly translate to “naked mountain”. It is among the 14 peaks that are over 8,000 metres and more than 95 mountaineers have lost their lives so far while climbing the mountain. 31 of them died before it was first scaled in 1953. Taliban militants had also killed 10 foreign climbers on June 23, 2013.
