Asia, Pakistan, Broad Peak, Attempt and Tragedy

Publication Year: 1999.

Broad Peak, Attempt and Tragedy. Eric Escoffier and Pascalle Bessieres (F) were last seen on the summit ridge of Broad Peak (8047m) on July 29 by Poitr Putzelnik and Ryszard Pawlowski, members of a Polish expedition. The two were climbing up to a col at ca. 7800 meters when they saw Escoffier and Bessieres moving slowly upward on the ridge above. “It was a snow storm and they had a long way to go for the final summit. They were on the ridge at approximately 8000 meters,” said one of the Polish climbers. The search was abandoned when Pakistani Ashraf Aman returned from a futile attempt to locate the two French climbers. The third member of the French expedition, Jean-François Lassalle, managed to come down with the Polish team. The French shared a climbing permit for the normal route with Slovakian and Italian climbers.

Asem Mustafa Awan, The Nation, Pakistan