"It's impossible!"

New Shocking Details Emerge About Dahlmeier’s Death

Laura Dahlmeier, who died in an accident a year ago, during her time as a top biathlete in the 2017 season(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

It’s been just under a year since former top German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier died in a climbing accident in Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains—and now new details surrounding the tragedy have emerged! Particularly shocking is the account of a fellow climber who urgently warned the German against attempting the summit but was unable to dissuade Dahlmeier from her plan—a mistake that ultimately proved fatal…

In a documentary for Servus TV, Spanish climber María Martín explained that she had met Dahlmeier at the base camp of Laila Peak just a few days before the accident. She herself had already been waiting there for weeks for a suitable window of time and weather for the ascent.

“I tried to explain: dangerous, impossible!”
It was in vain, because “the weather was so changeable—we had maybe two hours of sun a day, otherwise just rain. Avalanches, rocks, and ice were constantly coming down at base camp.” The unusually high temperatures for that altitude had made the snow, ice, and scree extremely unstable … When Dahlmeier and her climbing partner Marina asked for more information about Laila Peak, the Spanish climber didn’t beat around the bush. “In broken English, I tried to explain: dangerous, impossible! And I showed her photos of the avalanches,” said Martín.

Laura Dahlmeier(Bild: APA/dpa/Matthias Balk)

And yet, by that point, the mountain hadn’t even shown its worst side yet. “That was on July 24, and the worst avalanches actually didn’t come down until after Laura had already left base camp.”

What followed has since become a tragic chapter in sports history: While climbing the 6,069-meter-high Laila Peak on July 28 around noon, Dahlmeier was struck by a rockfall at an altitude of about 5,700 meters—and was likely killed instantly. Her climbing partner, Marina, was able to make an emergency call and set the rescue chain in motion, but in the end, there was no help to be had.

(Bild: ServusTV / w8less consulting / Lukas Wörle)

“Anyone who goes in there is putting their own life at risk!”
And not only that—Dahlmeier’s body remained on the mountain, as Dahlmeier herself had wished in the event of such a tragedy, but also because of the risk to a rescue team. An attempt was made, but as Alan Rousseau, a member of that mission, admitted to ServusTV, they didn’t stand a chance. “We ran through every possible way we could get there. It was clear to all of us: Anyone who goes in there is putting their own life on the line. So Thomas Huber (note: another rescuer) spoke with the family—and they, too, came to the conclusion that we shouldn’t risk it.”

One of the most successful female biathletes
With two Olympic gold medals in Pyeongchang in 2018 and a total of seven world championship titles, Dahlmeier was the most successful German female biathlete of the past decade. She made a particularly impressive mark at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, where she won five gold medals and one silver in six races. In the 2016–17 season, she also won the overall World Cup title.

In May 2019, the Upper Bavarian then unexpectedly ended her career as a competitive athlete at the age of 25. At the time, she explained that she no longer had any athletic goals as a biathlete. In addition to her mountaineering and climbing expeditions, Dahlmeier has since worked as a biathlon expert for ZDF.