K2: all hope lost of finding Juan Pablo Mohr, Muhammad Ali Sadpara and John Snorri alive

The drama that unfolded on K2 on the 5th of February has ended in the worst possible way, with Muhammad Ali Sadpara from Pakistan, John Snorri Sigurjónsson from Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto from Chile officially declared dead in a press conference in Skardu today, according to Pakistan's newspaper Dawn.

Sadpara, Snorri and Mohr were last seen on Friday 5 February at the Bottleneck while making their bid to reach the summit of K2 in winter. The last sighting was by Sajid Ali Sadpara,  son of Muhammad Ali, who descended from the Bottleneck to Camp 3 due to his supplementary oxygen regulator malfunctioning. After a night waiting in vain, he made the heartbreaking decision to descend to Base Camp alone. Search and rescue operations were launched right away, but despite all the efforts of Pakistan army in conjunction with the Icelandic and Chilean authorities, unfortunately no trace of the three was found.

During the press conference Sajid Ali explained "The overwhelming love and support for the 'national hero Ali Sadpara' has given immense strength to me, my younger brothers, my sister, and my mother. My family and I have lost a kindhearted person and the Pakistani nation has lost a brave and great adventurous individual who was passionate about the Pakistani flag to the point of insanity."

During the same conference Snorri stated "We are grateful to all of those participating in the search and rescue operations of our beloved John Snorri, Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Juan Pablo Mohr on K2.

All three were strong mountaineers willing, able and with the courage to make history by standing on the top of K2 in winter conditions. Based on the timing of the last known contact by John Snorri’s telephone we are confident that all three men made it to the top of K2 and as such something happened on the descent.

John’s Snorri’s family would like to extend gratitude to the authorities of Pakistan, Chile and Iceland for their devotion and efforts for finding our loved ones. There is no doubt in our minds that the extent of the search and the technologies used in the search were unprecedented and hopefully will improve the safety of future mountaineers around the world.

The Pakistani Army has been extremely supportive in these difficult times sharing resources and manpower. To the brave people of the Pakistani armed forces we say thank you for caring for Ali, John and Juan Pablo. The friendship between Ali, Sajid and John is something which we will cherish. As such we are grateful for the safety and survival of Sajid.

Our Icelandic hearts are beating with Pakistani and Chilean hearts. Thank you to all who have devoted your time to the search and taken the time to care by sending supportive words and thoughts to us in these difficult times. Ali, John and Juan Pablo will live forever in our hearts."

This winter on K2 will long be remembered for the historic first winter ascent carried out on 16 January by 10 Nepalese mountaineers, but also for the tragic loss of 5 lives on the mountain’s slopes after this climb: Sergi Mingote from Catalonia and Atanas Skatov from Bulgaria, who died in separate accidents in descent, as well as Muhammad Ali Sadpara, John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto. Their loss leaves us speechless.