The authorities abandoned the efforts on Thursday to recover the body of the German Olympic Biatleta Laura Dahlmeier, who died in a mountaineering accident while trying to climb the Pico Laila de Gilgit-Baltistan.
Dahlmeier was confirmed dead on Wednesday, after being beaten by the fall of rocks while rising at an altitude of 5,700 meters in Laila Peak in the Karakoram range.
Attempts to recover their body were abandoned due to “dangerous” conditions on the site, Dahlmeier’s management agency said Thursday.
In consultation with the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the agency said that their relatives “would continue to monitor the situation … and maintain the option of organizing a rescue at a later date.”
Several of Dahlmeier’s colleagues confirmed that the two -time Olympic gold medalist had said that he did not want his body to recover if he put a possible rescuer at risk.
The German mountaineer Thomas Huber was part of a team that had tried a rescue, but told journalists on Thursday: “We have decided that it should stay, because that was his desire.”
Another member of the rescue team, American Jackson Marvel, said AFP It would be “disrespectful” to recover his body contrary to his wishes.
Marvel said: “Laura’s body recovery will be possible, but implies incredible risks, both on foot and by helicopter.”
Dahlmeier’s climbing companion, Marina Krauss, who was with her at the time of the incident, said at a press conference on Thursday that the former Olympic did not move after being caught in a rock fall.
“I saw Laura being hit by a huge rock and then was thrown against the wall. And from that moment, he did not move again,” Krauss told journalists.
Krauss said he couldn’t get to Dahlmeier and requested external support.
“It was impossible for me to arrive safely.
“It was clear to me that the only way to help her was to call a helicopter. He did not move, he showed no signal [of movement]. I called him, but there was no answer. “
“She only had one chance if the help came immediately,” he said.
Dahlmeier won seven gold medals of the World Championship, and at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, became the first Biatleta woman to win the Sprint and the search in the same games.
Dahlmeier retired from professional competence in 2019 at the age of 25.
