Drone Finds Climber Believed to Be Dead on World's 12th Largest Mountain
Scottish mountaineer Rick Allen was presumed dead when he fell from an ice cliff while trying to climb to the summit of the Broad Peak mountains in the Himalayas, but a drone helped save his life.
Allen was already missing for days after his failed solo attempt to climb the summit of the 12th highest mountain peak located in Pakistan. In an interview with BBC News, the experienced climber said that after he failed to return from his summit attempt, "a number of people had assessed the situation and come to the conclusion that I was not going to come back."
He also said that even his climbing partner Sandy Allan, who joined him in his trip to the Himalayas, also lost hope that he is still alive. "I think Sandy knows me well enough that I can hang in in some pretty tough situations. But I think even he was struggling," he also said.
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Fortunately, brothers Bartek and Andrzej Bargiel, were at the base camp in preparation for the latter's quest to climb nearby Mount K2 and go down by skiing came with a drone to film their adventure.
When a cook spotted an item that seemed like a backpack from a distance 36 hours after Allen went missing, the Bargiels decided to launch their drone to help investigate. With the help of the drone's camera, they found out that the missing mountaineer was clinging for his life at the side of the mountain.
A rescue team was dispersed to retrieve Allen. With the help of the drone, the team managed to get Allen back to safety with minor injuries and a frostbite.
"With the help of the drone pilot we were able to eventually locate him in very dangerous terrain – a fall would've taken him either down a crevasse or all the way to the base of the mountain," David Roeske, one of the climbers who joined the rescue mission, said in an interview with climbing website AlanArnette.com.
Allen admitted that he used to find drones irritating whenever he sees them while climbing a mountain. But after the incident that saved his life, his perception about the flying gadgets finally changed.
