(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Kathmandu: Nepali rescuers retrieved on Thursday the body of a top Slovak climber who died last week after climbing the 7,234-metre (23,734-feet) Langtang Lirung peak in the Himalayas.
Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team who had climbed in the Alps, Patagonia and Himalayas, fell into a crevasse during his descent last Thursday.
Initial search and rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather.
"The long line team was dropped on the mountain yesterday and they identified the area where he fell. They were able to pull him out today," Subin Thakuri of 14 Summits Expedition, who helped organise the climb, told AFP.
"The body has been brought to Kathmandu."
Long line rescue is a dangerous operation used only when the terrain is too challenging for a helicopter to land, with a specialised rescuer attached to a rope.
Along with the helicopter pilot, the rescue team included four mountain guides and a long line rescue specialist.
Huserka's Czech climbing partner Marek Holecek thanked the search team on Facebook.
"I know it was very complicated and challenging. I'm glad that everyone involved in picking up Ondra's body is okay," Holecek said.
The pair had just completed the first-ever ascent of Langtang Lirung peak from its east face.
Holecek had confirmed the death in an emotional Facebook post on Sunday.
He said Huserka had "hit an angled surface after an eight-metre drop, then continued down a labyrinth into the depths of the glacier".
Holecek added that he had spent hours trying to rescue Huserka but failed as the Slovak was trapped head down and apparently paralysed.
"I rappelled down to him and stayed with him for four hours until his light faded. There's nothing more to add," he said.
Hundreds of people from around the world travel to the Himalayas each year for the autumn climbing season in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks.
More than a thousand climbers have been issued permits for the season, including 11 for Langtang Lirung.
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