Indian Air Force with SDRF, NIM, and French mountaineers rescue two foreign (US and UK) mountaineers from the Chaukhamba III trek, in Chamoli on October 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
A group of French mountaineers and a pair of Indian Air Force choppers on Sunday (October 6, 2024) managed to rescue two women trekkers, one American and one British, who had lost their way during a trek to the Chaukhamba-III massif at Chamoli in the Garhwal Himalayas on October 3. The Uttarakhand government facilitated the rescue after the women lost their luggage, containing their food and equipment.
The two rescued trekkers were Michelle Theresa Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37. Having climbed dangerous peaks across the world in the past, the pair had set out on September 11 for a trek to Chaukhamba-III, which lies 6,995 metres above sea level. It takes over a month to complete this trek, even for the experts, as the peak poses several challenges due to its steep slopes, rock and ice sections, and harsh weather conditions.
Ms. Manners was one of the first two women to ascend to ‘Phantom Direct’, on the South Face Grandes Jorasses in Europe, the longest ice route in the Mont Blanc massif. Records show she has also climbed the North Face of the Eiger, the American Direct on the Dru, the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses, and the Cassin Ridge on Denali as part of an all-women team. Ms. Dvorak is also a mountaineer as well as a teaching assistant at the University of Washington, according to her social media profile.
Lost on the mountain
According to the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), on the late evening of October 3, the District Emergency Operations Centre in Chamoli received information through the Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF) that the two mountaineers were trapped at an altitude of 6,015 metres on Chaukhambha-III.
“The women climbers had sent the information about getting lost on the mountain through pager to their respective embassies. Their luggage had fallen into the ravine, which included their food and essential equipment related to mountaineering, we were told,” said Nand Kishore Joshi, disaster management officer, Chamoli. Without the equipment, the women could neither go up nor come down.
On receiving the information, the State government asked the Union Defence Ministry to send the Indian Air Force (IAF) to help rescue the stranded trekkers. Two IAF Cheetah helicopters were sent for the rescue mission from Sarsawa Air Base to Joshimath, early on October 4.
“A lot of effort was made to find the two climbers on the coordinates provided by the Air Force helicopters, but no contact could be established with them,” Mr. Joshi said.
Search and rescue
This is when the SDMA officials learnt about a group of five French trekkers who had also gone on an expedition along the same route on September 18.
“Through the IMF, we informed the team of these French trekkers about the two women mountaineers being stranded at an altitude of 6,015 meters. We also shared the possible location of the two and the French trekkers started searching for both. On Saturday night, we were informed that the French team managed to reach out to the women trekkers,” Mr. Joshi said.
He added that the coordinates of the stranded trekkers were later shared with IAF, which rescued the pair on Sunday morning.
Published – October 06, 2024 08:16 pm IST
