Frostbitten Italian hobbles, aided down K2

ISLAMABAD, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Helped by a rescue party, an Italian climber hobbled on frostbitten feet down K2 on Tuesday morning, after spending four nights on the world's second-highest mountain following a climbing disaster that killed 11 others. Marco Confortola, 37, was reached by an American climber and Pakistani high altitude porters late on Monday as he struggled alone high on the 8,611 metre (28,240 foot) peak.

The team were trying to bring him down to an altitude that would be safe for a helicopter to airlift him off the mountain. "He's on his way to the Advance Base Camp (ABC)," said retired Brigadier Mohammad Akram, vice president of Pakistan's Adventure Foundation.

Akram expected the party to reach the camp, at 6,000 metres, by around 09:30 a.m. (0330 GMT).

"He couldn't make it during the night as he was completed exhausted," Akram said. "His feet have become swollen and his boots are now so tight on him."

Akram said despite pain and exhaustion, the climber's inner strength shone through.

"He's struggling, he is weak, but he is in good spirit."

Confortola spoke by satellite telephone to a fellow-climber back in Italy on Monday.

"Of course, of course, I'll keep going. Imagine if I gave up now," he told Agostino Da Polenza, head of the Ev-K2-CNR mountaineering group. (Reporting by Kamran Haider; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Valerie Lee)