Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Jason "Singer" Smith and John Dickey escaped from Kyrgyzstani rebels of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) faction late last week after being held hostage for six days. The group was on an expedition sponsored by The North Face to the Kara Su valley in southwestern Kyrgyzstan.

"They're rather traumatized," Caldwell's mother, Terry Caldwell, said Monday, "but physically they're safe." It was reported that the team was 1000 feet up on a big wall when the rebels began firing up at them and forced them to descend, at which time they were taken prisoner and all their equipment confiscated.

After six days of captivity, the team overcame their guard and then ran for several hours before being rescued by Kyrgyzstan government troops.

The team was flown to Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek on President Askar Akayev's private plane. They are currently at the U.S. Embassy there and will return to the U.S. later this week.

Several expeditions have been made to the granite towers of Kyrgyzstan since the fall of the former Soviet Union and the area has been considered relatively safe. The North Face had previously sponsored a trip to the Ak Su valley in 1995 with Alex Lowe, Conrad Anker, Lynn Hill and Greg Child.

"It's been really climber friendly and they called and checked on it before they left," said Terry Caldwell. "The Russian Army operates a helicopter service that will drop people into that area and they said, 'Oh no, there's a little bit of trouble in the valley over, the Ak Su valley, but this valley's [the Kara Su] just fine.'"

The U.S State Department issued an alert on August 16 warning travelers to avoid all areas south and west of the city of Osh, near the Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan border, as clashes between Kyrgyz government troops and the IMU continue.