American and British climbers, Fay Jane Manners and Michelle Theresa Dvorak, have been successfully rescued after being stranded for three days on the Chaukhamba-3 peak in Uttarakhand, India. The climbers were reported stranded on Thursday after a rockfall severed their rope, causing their bags—containing essential supplies like food, a tent, and climbing gear—to fall into a gorge.
Climbers lost most of their communication equipment
Stranded and isolated, the climbers lost most of their communication equipment but managed to send out an emergency message on the same day. Manners recounted the harrowing experience, stating, “We were pulling up my bag and she (Dvorak) had her bag on her. And the rockfall came, cut the rope with the other bag, and it just went down the entire mountain.”
The rescue operation, which took 80 hours, involved the Indian Air Force and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority. Rajkumar Negi, a spokesperson for India’s disaster management agency, reported that two Indian Air Force helicopters dispatched on Friday were initially unable to locate the climbers. However, on Saturday, a French mountaineering team, also attempting to summit Chaukhamba-3, spotted the stranded climbers and relayed their coordinates to the rescue authorities.
The Indian Air Force confirmed via social media that they successfully airlifted the climbers from an altitude of 17,400 feet, highlighting the remarkable coordination and efforts made under extreme conditions. Chaukhamba-3 is located in the Garhwal Himalaya region of northern India, known for its challenging terrain and climbing conditions.
