Peruvian Mountaineers Missing on Huascarán Located in High-Risk Zone, Rescue Halted

Three Peruvian mountaineers remain missing on Mount Huascarán, four days after a storm caused them to lose their route during a descent. Alejandro Manuel Ugarte Jordán, 38, Freddy Saúl Mendoza Lizana, 36, and Artidoro Salas Gaytán, 42, were last heard from on July 14.

Volunteer rescuers from the Association of Mountain Guides of Peru (AGMP) managed to locate potential traces of the climbers at an altitude of approximately 6,400 meters. However, extreme conditions in the area and coordination problems with a National Police helicopter prevented the rescue operation from continuing. The AGMP president, Beto Pinto Toledo, reported that rescuers used a specialized drone and cross-referenced its findings with the last known coordinates from Ugarte's Garmin watch, along with photos, videos, and messages sent before communication was lost.

Pinto identified two critical risk zones: a large crevasse and a steep, tubular slope accessible only by rappelling. The signal from Ugarte's watch reportedly stopped at the latter. Both areas are estimated to exceed 100 meters in depth, making any rescue attempt exceptionally complex and dangerous.

The volunteer search effort faced significant hurdles when nine rescuers, equipped for the challenging terrain, were not picked up by a police helicopter as planned. According to the AGMP, the helicopter was scheduled to collect them at 5:30 a.m. at an altitude of 4,600 meters. The pickup point was reportedly changed last minute, with the helicopter landing 300 meters lower. The rescuers descended to the new location, but the aircraft allegedly flew over and departed without them. "There is no incident command, no base camp, absolutely nothing," Pinto stated, noting the volunteers' exhaustion after days of work in extreme conditions.

With the volunteer team depleted, the families of the missing climbers are now exploring options to hire a private, specialized high-mountain rescue team to continue the search and potentially confirm if the climbers are indeed in the identified locations.

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No hay un comando de incidentes, no hay un campo base, absolutamente nada.