Bulgarian climber’s fall to death on K2 was not caused by broken rope

Bulgarian mountaineer, Atanas Skatov, on February 5 fell to his death during an expedition on Pakistan's K2 peak.

The reason for his fall was not a broken rope, as it was initially announced, but a mistake in changing ropes during hid descent to basecamp, the Nepalese company organising the winter expedition said.

The news of the death of the Bulgarian climber has been officially confirmed. His body was found by a Pakistani army helicopter near Camp 3.

The body of climber Atanas Skatov was found in the Himalayas.

He was very close to the base camp, but apparently because of fatigue had made a mistake when changing ropes. The Nepalese agency explained that the mountain was fixed with new ropes on the route because of the winter expedition.

In the past 24 hours, no one has managed to climb to the top. Due to the bad weather, the climbing was stopped.

Skatov fell from the trail at an altitude of about 7,400 metres. His body was found at about 5,500 metres and flown by a Pakistani military helicopter to the nearby city of Skardu at 15:00 local time.

Three days ago Atanas Skatov gave his last interview to BNT. From the base camp under K2, he said that this was his last chance to climb the summit, because the winter expedition ends in mid-February and everyone has to go down. This was Skatov's second ascent to Camp 3, then Camp 4 at 8000 m and the most difficult, the so-called Bottle Neck, which had taken the lives of many climbers, and finally the ascent to the very top.

On January 16, a group of Sherpas managed to reach to the top of the only peak that has so far been so difficult to climb in winter conditions. The great joy was overshadowed by the death of Spanish mountaineer,Sergi Mingote, who died in a similar way last month.

This morning at 10:30 when all the climbers were returning from camp 3 to the base camp, Atanas Skatov, went missing. It turns out that on the way down he made a mistake while changing the ropes, which led to a fatal fall.

“While climbing with his sherpa, he went a few metres ahead so that the sherpa could see him well. While he was changing his safety system from one rope to another, there seemed to be a problem and Atanas fell. The rope was not broken. It's was just a mistake, he either wasn't careful enough or he just got bad luck," said expedition manager Kanushur Gurey.

The rope was new especially for the purposes of the winter expedition, the organizers explained. According to the great Bulgarian climber and photographer, Doychin Vassilev, who climbed Everest, fatigue was probably the cause.

Very often such accidents happen on the way down, he added.

In his interview a few days ago, Skatov said that the chances are great, but the most important thing is to return alive and well.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Borissov also expressed his condolences to Skatov's relatives. In his Facebook profile, he wrote: “The mountain has taken another of our great climbers. Atanas Skatov was a brave man, a man with a cause.”