ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's military launched a helicopter evacuation of a Canadian and a Finnish mountain climber who were stranded on a peak in the country's north, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

The two climbers -- Donald Allen Bowie of Canada and Lotta Henriikka Nakyva of Finland -- were evacuated due to severe altitude sickness, according to Alpine Club secretary Karrar Haidri. Altitude sickness is characterized by headache, nausea, dizziness and exhaustion.

An initial statement from Pakistan's military listed Bowie as American, but the Alpine Club confirmed he's originally from Alberta, Canada.

The two climbers were part of an international winter expedition to the 26,000-foot (8,000-meter) Broad Peak, the world's 12th highest mountain. The team was led by Russian-Polish climber Denis Urubko.

Nkyava described the ordeal in a post on social media, saying, "We got caught in a storm. My right hand was going numb, along with my toes. I was frozen to my core. We kept on climbing until somewhere around 6600m when Don made the decision to set camp."

"Long story short, we stayed there for 2 nights, all digits alive, COLD af, we ran out of food, low on gas (dehydration), took a beating from some winds when coming down but eventually got down yesterday to basecamp," she said.

A photo released by Pakistan's military showed the climbers apparently in good spirits, smiling and sitting in a helicopter.

Broad Peak is located in the Karakoram range on the border of Pakistan, India and China. The Karakoram range is among a complex of ranges including the Himalayas. Broad Peak is located around 6 miles (10 kilometres) from K2 mountain, the second highest peak in the world.

In March, an Italian and a British climber died on Pakistan's Nanga Parbat, known as "Killer Mountain" because of its dangerous conditions.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#BPK2update: Expedition over. Shit happens, please no apologies or pity, I’ve already got my sights on the next project. ❄ Health wise, I’m quite ok, and even though the press considers me “rescued”, I was perfectly capable and willing to walk out on my own feet at the end of the expedition. The Pakistan Military helicopter pilots who were there to evacuate my climbing partner Don were gracious enough to invite me to fly out with them. These pilots are seriously the best in the world and I can tell you that Don is extremely grateful that they got him to medical care for his pneumonia. ❄ Anyhow, I was not healthy enough to have attempted the summit (coughing, chest pain, back pain, bleeding nose for 7 weeks...), especially after looking at the forecast of 150km/h summit wind until almost the end of our expedition (porters arrive feb. 22.). After the bad weather, even with miracle luck, I wouldn’t have had the time to summit with the acclimatization and experience I have... oh, and my toes have also been numb for six weeks so I kind of risked losing them too. ❄ It was a hard decision to make because in BC you tell yourself til the last minute that you’re ok even when you feel like your lungs are collapsing and you don’t notice when you hit your toes with your ice axe. In the end Don’s reasoning as my coach that it’s better to recover as soon as possible and start training for the next big event (this summer!!) than wait for a miracle and watch your health deteriorate in BC made sense to me. ❄ So stay tuned for the summer news! Meanwhile, I’ll keep posting stuff from this winter and other training climbs :) Video: @donbowie ❄ #allureofaltitude #highaltitude #broadpeak #winterexpedition #winter #expedition

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