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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...
...decision to try to summit Latok II. There had been 25 previous attempts to scale the 23,300-ft. (7,100 m) mountain, all of them unsuccessful. "They were doing the purest kind of climbing," says Alfonso Hernández, a reporter for the Períodico de Aragon, Pérez and Novallón's local newspaper. "No ropes, and totally alone up there...
...pair was at 20,600 ft. (6,300 m) when Pérez fell. Novallón left him bivouacked with food, a gas stove and a sleeping bag, as well as a realistic assessment of how long it might take for help to come. "Oscar knew it would take six or seven days for a rescue team to reach him," says Alfonso Uriel, spokesman for Peña Guara, the Huesca climbing club that has been organizing the effort. "So psychologically, he's prepared. He knows not to give up hope after just a couple of days." (Read "Blind...
...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...