A helicopter plucked two frostbitten Dutch climbers from K2 after an avalanche and exposure left at least 11 people presumed dead on the world's second-highest mountain. An Italian, Marco Confortola, who was also stranded made his way down with a rescue team after telling a colleague, "I am surely not going to give up now."

K2, which lies near Pakistan's northern border with China, is regarded by mountaineers as more challenging to conquer than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. K2 is steeper, rockier and more prone to sudden, severe weather.

One of the men rescued Aug. 3, Wilco Van Rooijen, blamed mistakes in preparation for the final ascent — not just the avalanche — for one of mountaineering's worst disasters.

"Everything was going well to Camp Four, and on the summit attempt everything went wrong," van Rooijen said.