2 stranded foreign mountaineers rescued safely after 3-day ordeal

Gopeshwar: Two foreign women mountaineers, who were stranded at a height of 6,015 metres on way to the Chaukhamba III peak in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, were rescued on Sunday morning, the District Disaster Management Centre here said. The mountaineers — Michelle Theresa Dvorak from the USA and Fay Jane Manners from the United Kingdom — were stranded since October 3. Both are safe despite their ordeal lasting three days. Though looking somewhat tired, the experienced mountaineers wore a smile when they were brought to the Jyotirmath (Joshimath) helipad by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel on Sunday morning. A French mountaineering team which was also on a separate expedition to the peak helped in locating the stranded woman from the USA and UK.

The coordinates of the location of the stranded mountaineers obtained from the French team was of great help to the joint team of rescuers in tracing them and bring them to the helipad, Chamoli’s Additional Information Officer Ravindra Negi said.

Apart from the IAF and the SDRF the rescue team also consisted of trained mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, he said.

A joint operation carried out by them over the past two days led to their safe evacuation. Two IAF helicopters began a search operation to trace them on Friday. They were joined by climbing trained SDRF personnel on Saturday to assist in the operations hampered by fog and adverse weather conditions.

The two were part of a foreign mountaineering expedition by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.

The two got stranded after their bag containing food and vital climbing gear fell into a gorge when they were at a height of 6,015 metres on way to Chaukhamba III peak situated at 6,995 metres.