Pakistan will not restrict mountaineering expeditions despite the recent deaths of climbers

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan has issued no warnings or restrictions for mountaineering expeditions in the north, an official said Sunday, despite the recent deaths of climbers.

Climbers were well aware of the harsh weather and all the other risks and challenges, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern region home to some of the world’s highest mountains. “Despite that, they willingly accept these challenges and come here to attempt these summits.”

Chinese climber Guan Jing, 37, was the latest person to perish on one of Pakistan’s mountains. She died last Tuesday after being hit by falling rocks on K2, the world’s second-highest peak known for its treacherous slopes and extreme weather conditions. Rescue teams recovered her body on Saturday.

Her body was still in the mortuary of the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu on Sunday. Contact has been made with Chinese authorities in Islamabad, and “now it is up to them to make further decisions in this regard,” said Faraq.

Jing’s death occurred several weeks after German mountaineer and Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier died while attempting Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range.

Bodies of foreign climbers who die attempting to summit mountains in Pakistan are typically recovered at the request of their families. But if the family declines a rescue, the remains are left at the spot where the climber died.

Faraq said authorities were trying to provide climbers with better infrastructure, rescue facilities, security and a friendly environment. Mountaineering expeditions are the backbone of the local economy, bringing in millions of dollars in direct revenue.

A large number of people work on these expeditions from May to September, feeding their families for the whole year with these earnings, he added.

Hundreds of climbers try to scale mountains in northern Pakistan every year.

Accidents are common because of avalanches and sudden weather changes. Last August, two Russians spent six days stranded on a remote peak before they were rescued.

Gilgit-Baltistan, in Kashmir, has been battered by higher-than-normal monsoon rains this year, triggering flash floods and landslides.