Tragedy on Laila Peak — Laura Dahlmeier’s father: “Body untraceable”

Laura Dahlmeier’s father, Andreas, has confirmed that his daughter’s body will not be recovered following her fatal accident on Laila Peak in Pakistan. Dahlmeier, a former top biathlete, was caught in a rockfall on July 28 during the descent. Soon after, it became clear she had not survived.

Multiple attempts to recover her body have failed. After a further unsuccessful attempt, Andreas told Der Spiegel: “Laura will remain on the mountain. There is no chance of recovering her.” He added that the family had hoped to bring her home but conditions after the accident were too dangerous. When climber Thomas Huber returned to Laila Peak at the family’s request, she could no longer be located.

Huber explained that the team searched the face using a spotting scope with 30x magnification and a drone to scan the terrain. Had they found her, they would have climbed into the wall to carry out a retrieval. As expected, she was no longer at the accident site. The experienced alpinist believes her body is likely buried under rock debris at the foot of the summit wall.