A recovery team successfully retrieved the body of Pakistani mountaineer Asma Mushtaq from Spantik Peak in Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday, 10 days after she tragically passed away while descending the 7,027-metre mountain. The Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) confirmed the operation.
Asma Mushtaq, aged 34, succumbed on August 20 after suffering a severe high-altitude medical emergency near 6,400 metres during her descent from the summit, the ACP detailed. Notably, she had reached the peak in good health.
ACP Secretary General Ayaz Shigri explained that climbers from Shigar initiated a renewed recovery mission on Friday, following earlier attempts that were hindered by heavy snowfall. The team started the search around 3 am on Monday and located Mushtaq’s body near Camp 3, approximately 6,250 metres above sea level, after about eight hours of effort.
The plan was to bring the body down to Camp 2, then transport it to the base camp. From there, Pakistan Army helicopters were scheduled to airlift it to Skardu. The recovery was conducted by self-funded climbers from Arandu in Shigar, led by Abbas Ali, with team members including Mehboob, Hussain Ali, Mazahir Hussain, Mehboob Ali, and Muhammad Abidin.
Mushtaq was part of a five-woman Pakistani expedition that successfully summited Spantik. The other members were Zoni Aslam, Zaba Shigri, Shama, and Sohana. The ACP noted that Mushtaq’s illness developed during the descent, attributed to high-altitude sickness, a condition caused by oxygen deprivation that can lead to life-threatening brain and lung complications.
Recovering bodies above 6,000 metres poses extreme challenges due to severe weather, altitude, and difficult terrain. Often, bodies remain on the mountain, eventually covered by snow. The Karakoram region’s increasingly unpredictable weather and avalanche hazards have further complicated climbing expeditions.
In a significant precedent, in 2021 Pakistani climber Sajid Sadpara buried his father, the renowned mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, at around 8,000 metres on K2 after his death during an expedition.
Spantik, also known as Golden Peak, is a prominent 7,027-metre mountain in the Karakoram range and a favored destination for mountaineers in Pakistan. Mushtaq’s death occurred during the summer climbing season when both local and international climbers seek to scale some of Pakistan’s highest peaks.
