This morning, they left their bivouac at around 7000m, but soon faced bad weather and poor visibility. From another bivouac at around 6600m, they called rescue coordinators in base camp. "We don't see anything. It is to dangerous to continue," Nones and Kerher said. "We used our skis on some parts of the descent, but the fact that we only have two ice screws and two crampons left makes it difficult to cross the crevasses."

Silvio Mondinelli, one of the rescuers in base camp, and two Pakistani high-altitude porters went up this morning to check glacier conditions. According to the Italian website montagna.org, Mondinelli indicated that the glacier looked very dangerous with many crevasses. "I don't want to be in those places," the Italian climber, who has summited all fourteen 8000m peaks, said.

God speed gentlemen. Come back safely.

George Gardner, 58-years-old, was found dead after an attempted solo of the Lower Exum Ridge:

George Gardner — a 58-year-old Ridgeway, Colo., resident, educator, husband and father of two — was found dead by companion guides early Sunday morning beneath the Lower Exum Ridge route he was thought to have been climbing.

Gardner was a veteran of the Himalaya and South America and had climbed across North America. By one account, he made more trips up the Grand for Exum last year than any other guide. 

A teacher, he was known for the Himalaya semester he taught for Sterling College in Vermont. He had been guiding with Exum for 28 years.

Via Jackson Hole Daily [Alpinist].

Sad news from Broad Peak. Slovakian climber Vlado Plulik has been missing since June 26 after a summit attempt on Broad Peak:

Slovakian climber Vlado Plulik is missing and feared dead on Broad Peak (8047m), Karakoram, Pakistan. Despite extensive search efforts by Plulik's partner, Jozef "Dodo" Kopold, and other climbers up to nearly 6500m, no trace of Plulik was found, and as of June 30, 2008, the search ended.

Via Alpinist Newswire.