Elite Mountaineers Reflect on Surviving Three Days on Himalayan Peak

Elite mountaineers Michelle Dvorak and Fay Manners describe the desperate experience of losing critical gear on Chaukhamba lll and surviving in the Himalaya.

Chaukhamba III on the left, Chaukhamba II in middle and Chaukhamba I on the right. / ©Coll. Manners/Dvorak

Elite alpinists Michelle Dvorak of the U.S. and Fay Manners of the UK were attempting to climb Chaukhamba III in the Garhwal massif - the Indian part of the Himalayas. They were trying to summit via the south-western strut, which has never been climbed. Chaukhamba III is one of four Himalayan peaks of Uttarakhand, India. The Chaukhamba massif is a striking formation within the greater Gangotri Glacier region, with Chaukhamba I being the highest peak at 23,419 feet. Chaukhamba III, the third-highest of the four peaks, stands just under 23,000 feet.

Their expedition began well. Over the first five days of climbing in September, the expert mountaineers-skiers navigated difficult terrain while encountering precarious glaciers and near-vertical granite walls. The route was pristine, but extremely steep, forcing the alpinists to rig a rope system to haul their heavy backpacks. Zoe Charef recently reported in AlpineMag,Alpine International Edition Article, that a failure of this system derailed their climb when one of their packs fell from the mountain, placing the climbers in serious peril.

7a granite rock climb on Chaukhamba lll / ©Coll. Manners/Dvorak

Fay Manners recalled the disastrous moment, “I was trying to haul the backpack and it felt like it was a bit stuck, although I couldn’t really see it as it was over 20m below me. Neither of us saw the moment it happened but Michelle dislodged a very big rock and it fell down and fell into and got tangled in the rope. We just saw the bag tumbling down. It was gutting. Mainly because we knew our summit attempt was over. I had no more crampons or ice axes to retreat back to basecamp. We had lost our stove, tent, warm clothes and headlamp. The reason the crampons and ice axes were such a necessity was because the approach to the spur was almost a climb in itself. A big part of it was severely crevassed and it looked like a maze of seracs and crevasses that were steep black ice. We sent a message of emergency and then we abseiled down to a bivy ledge to be a bit safer from some of the further rockfall.” They women were stuck at approximately 21,300 feet.

The pair survived two nights without a tent, food or water in temperatures that dipped below -15F. Over the two days they witnessed rescue helicopters in the area, but each time they passed and retreated, without seeing the fallen climbers. A third night appeared inevitable and dire, until a team of French climbers miraculously approached.

Michelle Dvorak and Fay Manners / ©Coll. Dvorak/Manners

“We saw that there were three climbers moving closer towards us! They met up with us and told us that they were from the French military (Vivien Berlaud, Paulin Clovis and Jacques Olivier Chevallier) here to rescue us. They found out that we were missing from one of my friends from Chamonix who told them what happened to us. That’s why they came at the bottom of our route! It’s funny because when I saw them arriving near us, I thought they were going to try the route. They were so warm in nature, they brought us food and water, cooked us soup and were even carrying Comte cheese and saucisson. They provided us with extra clothes and equipment, they were even carrying four ropes… They were really well-prepared! It was impressive and elegant because they knew we were professional climbers so they did not patronize us at all and were even calling us warriors.”

The French rescue team assisted the two climbers as they descended to safety. The French team that conducted the rescue is with the Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne of Chamonix, and they plan to climb the East Pillar of Chaukhamba III. Congratulations to all involved in this rescue, and safe climbing to Michelle Dvorak and Fay Manners as they chart new adventures and never-climbed-before peaks!