A small group of climbers from around the world are preparing an expedition to find their friend on the world's second-highest mountain.
Matthew Eakin, from Cumnock, Central West NSW, died in July on his descent from the summit of K2.
His body remains buried underneath snow and ice.
"A very generous group of Matt's close friends has offered to go to Pakistan to attempt to retrieve him, so that he may be buried with respect and dignity," Matthew's sister Danielle Bonnington said.
It's unlikely the exact circumstances of his death will ever be known, but his family said he fell on the Abruzzi route and was found not far from K2 Base Camp by two men.
Just after the men left to get help, a small avalanche struck and buried Mr Eakin.
Over the following two days, teams attempted to dig the 41-year-old out of the snow and ice, but despite their best efforts they were unsuccessful.
Mr Eakin remains buried, but his location is well known.
"Usually following an avalanche, a deceased person's location is unknown," Ms Bonnington said.
"But in this case Matt's location is known, and the geography of that location means that his body can't move far from where he was found.
"We have an opportunity to retrieve and bury him with dignity, rather than risk the possibility of snow melt uncovering his body sometime in the future.
"Our family, understandably, doesn't want this for Matt."
While Mr Eakin had extensive travel insurance for death and repatriation, the cost of the retrieval mission wasn't covered.
But thanks to generous family, friends and strangers, over $74,000 has been raised to fund the trip.
The money raised will help pay for the trekking permits, local trekking operator fees, flights, purchase of gear, and the hire of equipment needed to help recover Mr Eakin.
Any leftover funds will be donated to charity.
Global mission to find friend
A small team is now planning to head to Pakistan over a three-week period in February.
Ms Bonnington said this was when conditions were expected to be the safest, with the lowest avalanche risk in winter.
But that doesn't mean it will be easy – the team are preparing for temperatures that could get down to minus 30 degrees Celsius.
"Matt's location has been marked by GPS so the chances that he can be found are high," she said.
The team also plans to use a ground-penetrating radar to improve those chances even further.
"As far as we are aware, this type of operation to retrieve a loved one several months or years after the incident, has only been carried out on very rare occasions in the history of mountaineering," Ms Bonnington said.
"Deceased climbers are often left on the mountain where they died if they aren't recovered straight away."
Should the team be successful, Mr Eakin will be buried at the base of K2 alongside other mountaineers who have lost their lives, including Canadian professional climber Richard Cartier who died earlier on the same expedition.
Boy from country NSW always loved adventure
Mr Eakin grew up on a farm at Cumnock, in central west NSW.
He studied a Bachelor of Laws and Commerce at the University of Canberra.
In Sydney, he worked as a consultant and solicitor, also volunteering at the mental health organisation the Black Dog Institute.
His sister said he was an avid adventurer from a young age, getting his adrenaline hit through running, mountain biking, skydiving, BASE jumping, and rock and high-altitude mountain climbing.
"When he found climbing, the mountains he tackled got higher and more technically challenging with each adventure. He was always seeking the next mental and physical challenge — he thrived on it," Ms Bonnington said.
"The tributes and immense outpourings of grief from his friends and communities he was involved with has helped us realise the impact his life had on so many people right across the world.
"We have all been left with a massive Matt-sized hole in our lives.
"We are incredibly grateful to the team members who have offered to go to Pakistan.
"It is far beyond what anyone in our family is physically or emotionally capable of doing.
"Gratitude isn't a strong enough word to express what we feel now that this is possible."
Mr Eakin was an experienced climber who had previously climbed in the Karakoram region in Pakistan, where five of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 metres are located.
He also climbed extensively in Nepal in the past decade.
