Rescue mission underway for Dutch mountaineer missing in Nepal

The Dutch association for climbing and mountaineering NKBV launched a search and rescue mission in the Himalayas in Nepal for Dutch mountaineer Christiaan Wilson. Wilson has been missing there for two weeks, NOS reports.

The 35-year-od Dutchman last had contact with his family on May 15th. The alarm was sounded last week when he did not arrive for his flight back to the Netherlands. Exactly what happened with him is unknown.

"We really have no idea what's going on", Robin Baks, director of the NKBV, said to broadcaster NOS. "The problem is that he did not make his flight and that there's been no contact with him."

Wilson and an American climber wanted to climb the Dhaulagiri, a mountain of more than 8,100 meters. Their attempt failed. According to Baks, it is possible that Wilson encountered difficulties between the base camp and a hut called the Italian Lodge, where he never arrived.

Baks believes that this is not cause for immediate concern. Wilson is an experienced climber, and the place where he last made contact with his family is not extremely dangerous. "It's not an easy descent, but when you look at his climbing resume, it's something he can easily do. It is an area where regular people go who have less climbing experience."

"Our emergency center is now coordinating a operation in which a helicopter will be used to search the area where the last contact with Christian Wilson was", Baks said. He does not want to consider a scenario like the one where other Dutch mountaineer Eric Arnold died of altitude sickness on Mount Everest earlier this month. "I do not want to think about that yet. We first have to wait for the search. We remain hopeful until proven otherwise", he said to NOS.