An American mountaineer’s expedition of the mountain that defeats one out of every 4 climbers is cut short by high altitude sickness as Pakistan Army aviation airlifts him to Skardu for medical treatment.

Frothy sputum tinged with blood dropped on the clean untouched snow of the savage mountain in Northern Pakistan as Robert Jackson, 38, hiked up to camp IV. His lungs had begun gurgling and rattling, his throat felt small, smaller and smallest. He had come too close to his limits. Setting up higher and higher camps and moving up the route was becoming increasingly difficult. He scanned the frozen slope above him and thought of how the last 22 marathon days had taken its toll. He remembered how so many bodies and bones were buried in this nightmarishly steep of a black stone covered with heaps of snow. Descent was the only treatment to cure High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) which was now taking over his lungs at 7500 metres atop the second highest mountain of the world.

He got down to Camp II with his porter and then he couldn’t move anymore. He called down the base camp. “Take some dexamethasone but you need an evacuation”, came the doctor’s reply. He was able to spend a sleepless night with the help of the drug. The next day he made painfully slow progress down to the base camp. “The Army is very professional and they are very good at rescues. They will be down here today”, said the doctor and Jackson broke up in tears.

Climbing season in Karakorum is short and stretches from only mid-June into the early days of September. All the major climbing routes are accessed through Pakistan, as access through the Chinese side is a huge logistical challenge. The 27 member expedition began ascending K2 in the middle of June with the hope of conquering the snowy rocks of the cliff plunging 10,000 feet into the surrounding glaciers. Before setting off for K2 expedition, Jackson carried out acclimatization as he went to Astore, Paiju and a couple of more towns to Concordia and then the base camp of K2. It took them a week to march up the mountain trails to K2 base camp at Baltoro, a black rock and grey moraine contrast on top of the crevasse-riven glacier. There it was – the mighty K2. The archetypal image of the summit is defined by the sharp triangle of its silhouette which forms the perfect image of a peak on a painter’s canvas.

At the base camp the doctor warned him of the crackling in his lungs. Soon that crackling developed into a bacterial infection for which the doctor prescribed antibiotics. He sat at the base camp for 5 days until he felt better and climbed up to camp IV with a high altitude porter from Pakistan, carrying a barrel of gear and provisions for the climb up the steep chute of ice. The extremely high altitude and resulting lack of oxygen caused HAPE and chilly winds raking through the mountains made every step difficult. “Then that was too much for me and I started to throw up blood. It was very hard to get down, very very hard to get down.”

At the base camp, Jackson was told how the Pakistani soldiers regularly risk their lives to rescue climbers on this peak. He was later assured of that as he was struggling to get into the helicopter, the pilot grabbed his hand and helped him get into the back. They welcomed him into the helicopter and said, “Hey! Put these headsets and seatbelt on. You are going to be okay.”

With only a third of oxygen at sea level, snow up to his chest in places, he staggered off the peak in the final stages of exhaustion, his movement restricted to inch by inch steps. His pulse was racing, his temperature rising. He got down to Camp II with his porter and then he couldn’t move anymore. He called the base camp. “Take some dexamethasone but you need an evacuation”, came the doctor’s reply. He was able to spend a sleepless night with the help of the drug. The next day he made painfully slow progress down to the base camp. “The Army is very professional and they are very good at rescues. They will be down here today”, said the doctor and Jackson broke up in tears. As soon as the Army learnt of Jackson's ailment, phones buzzed and a rescue operation was immediately directed. General Officer Commanding (GOC) Aviation, Major General Muhammad Khalil Dar; being himself a veteran high altitude pilot, sensed urgency of the matter and immediately passed instructions to Lt. Col Umair Khan Niazi, the Commanding Officer of 5 Army Aviation High Altitude Squadron. There was not even the slightest delay as a person was suffering and a life was at risk.

Temperature at base camp was unexpectedly exceeding 9˚C when the pilots landed to rescue Jackson, which left little margin for both the pilots and the machine in terms of their weight lifting efficiency, making the landing and take off more critical. Soon, Jackson saw two Écureuil AS350 helicopters flying in pair towards the camp in thin air, coping with the vicious up-and-downdrafts. “When I first saw the helicopter, I got so happy, I started to cry and I knew I would make it to home. The sound of helicopters was an assurance that I was going to live.”

The first helicopter was piloted by Major Sheraz Khurrum and Major Rehman, the second helicopter followed with Major Zulqarnain and Major Ali Awais onboard. “The point of rescue was at an altitude of 16500 feet. Difficulty of landing was further compounded by high temperature at K2 base camp. The more the temperature rises, the thinner the air becomes”, said Major Sheraz. Reduced performance of the helicopters at these altitudes is compensated by the pilots through meticulous fuel calculation whereby the pilots take minimum fuel along and the subtraction in fuel weight gives them margin to pick some extra kilograms of weight. Helicopter instruments were displaying exceeding normal limits when they were about to land. “This was a critical decision to make, thinking whether the helicopter would be able to take off with a passenger on-board.”

At the base camp, Jackson was told how the Pakistani soldiers regularly risk their lives to rescue climbers on this peak. He was later assured of that as he was struggling to get into the helicopter, the pilot grabbed his hand and helped him get into the back. They welcomed him into the helicopter and said, “Hey! Put these headsets and seatbelt on. You are going to be okay.” They were now taking off and the pilots eased Jackson into a conversation to take his mind off the situation. “I felt safe, I felt like a part of the team. They pointed out the shapes on the landscape below, this is a glacier, this is a mountain and these are the pure white ice pinnacles.” The helicopter was touching its red limits when Jackson had boarded and they were about to take off, there was no margin of error left yet this critical situation was converted into a successful evacuation mission with meticulous care and a high degree of skills. “This country deserves my eternal admiration. Back in Colorado, United States of America I told my wife that of all the countries I have travelled to, Pakistan is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It has that snowy mountain with a caressing mist I fell in love with and the soldiers who saved my life.”

Jackson, in fact loved the whole of this country which he had warmed to, during the month he spent here.