Word: p
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...According to a diplomatic source at Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, half the team is made up of alpinists from around the world, and half are Pakistani porters. Three of the climbers left base camp the morning of Aug. 14, moving as quickly as possible to ascend to Pérez's location...
...took more than a couple of days before a rescue effort could even be organized. For one thing, there were few experienced climbers in the area who were acclimated enough to the altitude to begin a rescue. Bad weather and difficult terrain forced several helicopters sent out to locate Pérez to return unsuccessful. By Aug. 11, it had become clear that a rescue by land was going to be necessary...
...Among the three is a renowned American alpinist who might have been Pérez's greatest hope. Fabrizio Zangrilli, 36, was in the area because he recently finished guiding a climb of K2. "Fabrizio is so acclimatized, and his skill set is so high, that he's probably the only guy situated to pull this off," says Jordan Campbell, spokesman for Marmot Mountain Works, an outdoor-equipment company that sponsors Zangrilli. "He's going to have to climb light and fast and maybe carry Pérez over his shoulder to get him down. But he's done...
...Even so, owing to the inhospitable terrain and the altitude, the risks remain high. And with the advance team not expected to have potentially reached him before Saturday, there were no guarantees that Pérez - whom no one has had any contact with since Novallón descended - is still alive...
...Campbell, who himself has climbed four Himalayan peaks, says he's worried for everyone involved: "Fabrizio is putting himself at great risk. Pérez, if he's a strong young climber, might survive. But someone who has been trapped at 6,000 meters for five or six nights is probably slowly dying." (See pictures of triumph and tragedy on the world's highest mountain, Everest...