Valter Perlino, originally from Pinerolo, explained that the mountaineers were surprised during the night while they were sleeping in tents
Valter Perlino he is the Italian mountaineer who survived the tragedy occurred in Nepalin which three compatriots lost their lives. He was part of the expedition headed to Mount Pambari, a 6,887 meter peak in the Nepalese Himalayas, together with Stefano Farronatoforestry technician from Bassano del Grappa, e Alessandro Caputoski instructor in St. Moritz. For two days Perlino participated in the search, hoping to find the two companions alive. Unfortunately this was not the case. It was he who told the story how their bodies were found.
Read also: Nepal, bad weather on the peaks: three Italian mountaineers dead. There are some missing
Nepal, the missing found: the survivor’s story
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“We recently finished the research, with the discovery and recovery of the bodies of Farronato and Caputo. We found them”, said Valter Perlino first, announcing that his expedition companions had not made it. “They slept in tents and were buried under two and a half meters of compact snow. It happened during the night between Thursday and Friday. While they were sleeping, absurd”, added the man from Pinerolo, who continued the search for two days despite knowing that the chances of finding them alive were minimal, given the enormous quantity of snow that fell in those days.
The tragedy in Nepal: Valter Perlino saved by a miracle
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“We were together at Camp 2, at 5,800 meters, and we were climbing towards Camp 3, at 6,300 meters,” Perlino explained. AND I live miraculously: “I think I had a venous thrombosis in my left foot, so we all decided to go down, with the agreement of reaching the base camp at 4,800 metres. But here everything is covered in snow. We are not naive: the snowfall surprised us two days earlier than expected“.
Due to illness, Valter left first, while his teammates stopped to break up camp. “I don’t know why, perhaps out of tiredness they decided to stop at Camp 1. On the evening of Monday 27th we were surprised by the start of the snowfall, which lasted six days. We knew it would arrive, but it arrived two days early. I was already at base camp, they were at Camp 1. We remained in contact until Thursday evening of 30th, then nothing more.” When he left them, they were fine: “They had gas and food. I don’t know what happened. I had already launched the SOS on Wednesday 29th, when it was clear that moving would be impossible for everyone: they were two meters of snow fell“.
From Friday 31 October total silence. During the searches, he says, no one spared themselves: “Everyone gave their all and there was little rest. It wasn’t easy at all.” AND he concludes bitterly: “We lose two expert mountaineers”.
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