Ice warriors: numbing cold, gale-force winds, avalanches, frostbite. Why risk your neck on Pakistan's Nanga Parbat in the middle of winter? Ask Polish climbers. From: National Geographic | Date: January 1, 2008| Author: | COPYRIGHT 2008 National Geographic Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information) Copyright information

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UNSPEAKABLE COLD. A cold so unearthly, the two Polish mountaineers, even in their benumbed state, recognize it for what it is: the angel of death. She has wrapped their wasted bodies in her icy wings and is feeding on them while they're still alive--gnawing at their wooden fingers and frozen toes, eating away their waxy cheeks and hardened noses.

It is the 12th of January, 2007, the dead of winter, in Pakistan's Karakoram Range. Darek Zaluski and Jacek Jawien are pinned down inside their tent at 22,146 feet (6,750 meters) on the southwest ridge of ...

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