Abstract
EVERYONE must sympathize with the Germans who have met with disaster, for a second time, in an attempt to climb Nanga Parbat. In 1934 three members, including the leader, lost their lives on the mountain in a blizzard and one died from illness; added to this, six of their faithful porters also lost their lives. Now news has come that the second German expedition has met with an even greater disaster, seven out of nine members, including the leader, Dr. Karl Wein, together with nine porters, having been overwhelmed by an avalanche at Camp IV. Details of what exactly happened are not yet to hand, but almost at the same time as the news of the disaster was telegraphed an article appeared in The Times of June 22 from Dr. Karl Wein, professor of geography at the University of Munich, dated June 6 from the Base Camp. From this it seems the present expedition is following the same route as that of 1934. On June 5 it had reached Camp III, which in the former expedition was at a height of 19,400 ft., while the ‘trek’ to Camp IV, 20,300 ft., had been made on the following day. In this account Dr. Wein describes a great avalanche crashing down the face of Nanga Parbat, but which with the exception of several stray fragments did not reach Camp II, 17,550 ft., which was being pitched at the time. The rush of air caused tents to be “blown over, tent poles snapped and strong canvas torn”. All the members of the party seem to have been thoroughly experienced mountaineers. We shall await with interest details of this, probably the greatest, of Himalayan disasters.
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The German Expedition to Nanga Parbat. Nature 139, 1099 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/1391099a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1391099a0