Injuries force Italian mountaineers to call off Gasherbrum bid.

Byline: Jamil Nagri

GILGIT -- Italian climbers called off their attempt to climb the 8,034-metre Gasherbrum I in the Karakoram mountain range after they suffered injuries.

On Sunday, Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger were crossing a crevasse (a deep open crack in thick ice) when Moro fell inside the opening. Lunger also injured herself as she was dragged into the crevasse with Moro because of the harness that they were sharing, according to the details shared by Moro on his Facebook post.

Two hours later they somehow managed to emerge from the crevasse and reached the base camp from where they were evacuated and shifted to Skardu by Pakistan Army helicopters on Monday, according to tour operator Naik Naam Karim.

'The condition of the climbers is stable,' Mr Karim told Dawn.

Both were shifted to Skardu by army copters

He also confirmed that the mountaineers had called off their attempt to scale Gasherbrum I.

Gasherbrum I is the 11th highest peak in the world and is located on the border of China-Pakistan.

Moro, 52 and Lunger, 33 began their bid to scale the Gasherbrum peaks during the last week of December. They had planned to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 metres. They first began with Gasherbrum I in the first week of January.

Detailing further about their fall, Moro wrote on his Facebook newsfeed in Italian and English: 'All's well that ends well. Without going too far around the concept, yesterday we really came just a breath away from a tragic and disastrous epilogue for both Tamara and me. We were...