Climber sent panicked message to base before going missing while up 23,000ft mountain
Topics: News, World News, India
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/faymanners / Michelle Dvorak
Topics: News, World News, India
A climber sent a panicked message back to their base camp before they went missing.
Fay Manners and Michelle Dvorak had been climbing Chaukhamba III in India’s Garhwal Himalaya when they became stranded on Thursday.
Manners, 37 and from the UK, and Dvorak, 31 and from the US, had set off from New Delhi on September 15 after being given permission to ascend the 6,974m peak.
The pair are both experienced climbers, having previously travelled to the US and climbed the Bacon and Eggs on Mini-Mini-Moonflower in Alaska.
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Someone down at the mountain's base camp had been helping the two climbers.
However, in October, they got into difficulty after beginning their climb.
They sent a message back down to base camp alerting people supporting their climb that they had become stranded.
In the message, they said that their equipment had fallen down a gorge in the mountainside.
This would contain crucial gear for safely conducting their ascent, and meant that they would have to be rescued.
They had made their SOS alert when they were at around 20,350 ft on the mountain, and a rescue operation was subsequently launched.
This included multiple agencies who could work together to bring the two elite climbers back safely.
Speaking to The Sun, the head of the rescue operation said: "There are so many agencies working here. They are all working in coordination with each other.
"The Indian Army, Indian Air Force, the District Administration, State Administration, along with my team, the State Disaster Response Force. We hope to evacuate these two ladies as soon as possible."
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson told The Sun at the time: "We are supporting the family of a British woman reported missing in India and are in contact with the local authorities."
The high authority made it difficult for helicopters to access, and bad weather meant the search had to be paused.
Helicopters had been due to resume scouring the area on Sunday, but a report came in that a French party had successfully reached the two stranded climbers.
It is believed that Manners and Dvorak are now descending two around 17,390ft with the rescue party.
From there, they will be at a safe altitude to be evacuated by helicopter.
They were found by a group called the Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne of Chamonix.
After finding the missing climbers, the group reported that they both appeared to be in good health.