At least 11 people died when an ice pillar broke loose and ripped several fixed ropes along the mountainside. The initial accident killed part of a South Korean climbing team and may have left even more people stranded above the break in the lines and unable to descend. The accident happened at 27,000ft making helicopter rescue extremely difficult.

One hope for the climbers stuck above Bottleneck would be for them to try to climb down on the Chinese side, Reinhold Messner, a renowned climber, told the BBC. He described their situation as “very critical.”

via New York Times