GILGIT: After ground rescuers failed to locate the two Japanese climbers during their first attempt to top 7,027-meter Spantik Peak on Wednesday, an army aviation operation is scheduled to begin on Thursday, weather permitting.
Camp 2, located at 5,300 meters above sea level between the Shigar and Nagar districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, was reached on Monday by Ryuseki Hiraoka and Atsushi Taguchi climbing in the Alpine method without porters. However, when another seven-member Japanese expedition team arrived at the camp the following day, they were gone.
They then called off their excursion and went back to the base camp to let the authorities know.
The missing climbers are thought to have fallen from camp 2, according to some evidence discovered by other mountaineers. On Thursday, locals and Japanese climbers will continue their search and rescue operation with the use of drones.
