It was an emotional arrival just after dark as Sajid, who turned back at the bottleneck due to an oxygen failure, returned alive after a monumental descent to basecamp without his Father Ali.

Imtiaz and and Akbar are heading up K2 today, boots on the hill, by their own will, to see if they can possibly locate John, Ali and JP.

Imtiaz said:

‘Ali is a brother to us. A hero for Pakistan. We will climb as high as we can within our limits. There is hope, but we know the reality of the mountain, especially in winter.’

Akbar then said:

‘When Ali left basecamp, he had the Pakistani flag with him. Everytime he climbs, he has the mountain close to his chest, Pakistan is in his veins and blood. He’s our hero.’

These brave men are volunteers, who chose to undertake this mission. They know the mountain better than anyone and tell us they’ll respect the mountain, the weather and their limits.