一场拯救每个人生命的战斗开始了。很明显暴风雪还将要持续一段时间。8月10日，最高营地里的形势变得很危急了。给养几乎耗光；吉尔奇的健康状况很严重；贝尔的脚指头也失去了知觉。

　　It was decided to make an attempt to get Gilkey down and the whole crew started to descend. There was no alternative anymore if they wanted to survive. The first day they only managed a few hundred metres downwards. In the evening the ropes entangled between the different rope-teams and five men fell, but Schoening managed to hold them alone! Fortunately no one got seriously injured. While the bivouac tents were put up, Gilkey had been secured a bit away. When went back to him, an avalanche had decided his destiny, nothing is left, his provisional stretcher attached with ice AXEs had been torn away, and in the howling storm nothing could be heard. The other seven climbers continued their struggle downward and finally they reached Base Camp after five days. Bell had serious frostbite to his feet and was carried all the way to Skardu - almost 200 kilometres.

　　探险队决定把吉尔奇带下山，全体队员也开始下撤。他们如果想要活命的话，已经别无选择余地了。第一天他们仅仅勉强下撤了几百米。晚上，两个结组之间的绳索互相缠绕在一起，有五个人掉了下去，但是斯古宁（Schoening）拼尽全力独自拉住了他们。幸运的是，没有人受重伤。当临时宿营地建立之后，吉尔奇被缚牢固定在一旁。当有人向他走过去时，一场雪崩已决定了吉尔奇的命运。雪崩经过的地方被冲刷得个精光；用冰镐临时缚成的担架被冲走了。在咆哮的暴风雪中，什么也听不见了。其他七名队员继续挣扎向下撤退，五天后他们终于抵达了大本营。贝尔的腿被严重冻伤，并一直被抬到200公里外的斯卡都【10】。

　　【10】Skardu：斯卡都，巴基斯坦巴尔蒂斯坦首府。位于吉尔吉特以西、中国新疆以南，距印度河和希加尔河交汇点约8公里处。海拔2286米。

　　The third American Expedition had again been close to sUCCess. That all seven climbers managed to get down the steep Abruzzi-Spur under such adverse circumstances was literally more than a miracle!

　　1954 - THE ITALIANS RETURN

　　1954年—意大利人重返乔戈里

　　During 1953 Italian Professor Ardito Desio and Mario Puchoz scouted the terrain, seeking possible routes up K2. They probed the terrain up to 6,000 metres and made a lot of observations. When Desio got home, hemade the final plans to reachthe summit. He said that the only chance of succeeding depended onthe the plan being followed with a militarydiscipline and that every member was to leave his personal ambition for the expeditions best.

　　1953年期间，意大利的阿迪托·迪塞奥教授和玛利奥·普卓兹教授（Mario Puchoz）探查了乔戈里峰的地势，寻找可能的攀登路线。他们用探测器探查到海拔高达6，000米的地域并写了大量的观察报告。迪塞奥回到家后，制定了最后的冲顶计划。他说登顶成功的唯一机会要靠制定军事化纪律般的计划，每个队员要顾全探险队的大局利益，把个人的野心抛到一边去。

　　The 21 chosen members first had to pass through a medical examination and were tested in a pressure chamber. In the middle of January 1954, all members gathered in a tent camp at 4,000 metres altitude on the Mount Blanc massif. The oxygen devices were tested and every persons physical and mental condition was examined in detail. From this group, 10 men were chosen for the expedition. They immediately leave for a training camp on 4,500 metres on Monte Rosa.

　　被遴选出来的21名队员首先要通过医学检查，还要在加压舱里接受检测。1954年1月中旬，所有的队员聚集在位于勃朗峰【11】（Mount Blanc）海拔4，000米山丘上的一个帐篷营地。氧气装备检查好了；每个队员的身体及心理状况也进行了详细检查。从帐篷营中10名队员被挑选出来参加探险队。他们立即动身赶往位于罗沙峰【12】（Monte Rosa）海拔4，500米上的一个训练营地。

　　【11】Mount Blanc：勃朗峰，法语意为“白峰”。在法国、意大利边界。长48公里，宽16公里。海拔4，810米，为阿尔卑斯山脉最高峰。2，400米以上有现代冰川及雪原。筑有隧道长11.6公里，可通行汽车。
　　【12】Monte Rosa：罗沙峰，在瑞士与意大利边境，欧洲第二高峰

　　Just before the departure, a few men joined the party since the expedition failed to recruit any SHERPAs. At the last minute the famous mountain guide Cassin resigned his alpine leadership.

　　就在出发前夕，由于探险队招聘不到夏尔巴人做挑夫，就招募了一些人加入探险队。在最后的关键时刻，著名的登山向导卡森（Cassin）出人意料辞去了他的高山领导职务。

　　The Approach followed the schedule and the route is the same as before, through the Abruzzi-Spur. Despite the bad weather, the higher camps were established one after another.

　　依据登山日程和路程而安排的登山进军路线和上次一样，也是穿过阿布拉孜山脊。尽管坏天气的不利影响，更高的营地还是一个接一个陆陆续续地建立了。

　　In the middle of June, all supplies for the final attack were stored in Camp IV. The expedition hoped to reach the summit before the end of the month. Hard winds and storms raged all over Karakorum during the following weeks and no progress was made. Would they not reach higher than their fellow countrymen from 1929? (The expedition from which Desio is a veteran).

　　6月中旬，为最后攀登所备的所有给养都储存在了4号营。探险队希望能在月底登顶。随后的几个星期里，狂风暴雪在整个喀喇昆仑地区上空肆虐，探险队毫无进展。他们会比他们1929年探险队的同胞们攀登得更高吗？（经验丰富的迪塞奥参加过那个探险队）。