A mountaineer in the Himalayas may yet to see the light of day thanks to a drone. The climber, a man named Rick Allen, was on his way back from a solo trip. Allen, an experienced mountain climber, encountered a twist in his journey. This trip involved Allen going alone to the summit of Broad Peak, and back to base.
Peril at Broad Peak:
Broad Peak stands at a whopping 8,047 meters (26,401 feet) above sea level in height. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world – a formidable challenge even for teams of climbers. Quite a challenge indeed, and facing it alone meant leaving little to no room for errors.
On his way back down after a successful hike to the top, Allen faced some problems. The initial incident came when Allen fell on his descent. This led to him becoming unconscious for a period of time. During this time he also received a number of bodily injuries, such as cuts and frostbite.
Allen was running out of time.
As luck would have it, two distinct events gave this story a happy ending. First, another climber also on the descent from the mountain saw what appeared to be someone’s rucksack. This made the climber suspicious. Once he returned to basecamp, he informed people about a potential missing person.
The second streak of luck is the presence of a drone in the area itself. The drone had a different purpose, however. The owner wanted to film ski action on the area, when luck would bring them to the mix. With the drone at their disposal, they found Allen shortly after.
This made it possible to scope out a large portion of the area without having to go on foot. This made sure that there was more ground covered, while also ensuring safety for searchers.
The climbers found Allen before any permanent damage set in. He walked away from the whole ordeal in one piece. Another win for drones everywhere.
