Women climbers rescued after three days in the Himalayas without food, water or supplies

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The American and British pair survived three days in desolate temperatures on monstrous Chaukhamba mountain

Chaukhamba
(Image credit: Getty Images)

An American and British climbing duo have been rescued from the Himalayas after surviving three days without supplies.

US mountaineer Michelle Dvorak and her climbing partner Fay Manners had climbed more than 20,000ft / 6,096m up the towering Chaukhamba mountain in Northern India when a freak accident left them without food, water and medical supplies. Approaching the summit, the rope carrying Manners' supplies snagged on loose rock and snapped, sending her essentials plummeting down the mountain. 

“We were pulling my bag and she had her bag on,” Manners told the UK Telegraph. “And the rockfall came, cut the rope with the other bag, and it just went down the entire mountain.”

Without head torches for moving at night, or safety gear to ascend back down the mountain, Manners and Dvorak were stranded in  temperatures below -10°F / -23°C. Facing hypothermia and starvation, they sent for help with an emergency SOS message and huddled under a ledge.

“I felt hypothermic,” Manners told the BBC. “Constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm.” 

Gasherbrum Himalayas

On average, five climbers die each year in the Himalayas (Image credit: Getty Images / By Haider Ali)

Over the next three days, the Indian Airforce scoured Chaukhamba by helicopter but were unable to track down the two climbers due to worsening conditions. Running out of options, Manners and Dvorak made the bold, but potentially life-saving decision to attempt some of the descent themselves. With very limited supplies and even less energy, the pair abseiled around 2,000ft / 610m down the peak, where they were found by a group of French mountaineers. 

“We knew we had to try to go down ourselves as the helicopter wasn’t going to help us,” Manners continued. “They did try to rescue us but the conditions were brutal…bad weather, fog, high altitude and they couldn’t find us as the face was so vast.”

The French mountaineering group had set off to find the pair after hearing about their situation from mutual friends. They shared food, supplies and sleeping bags with the two while waiting for the helicopter together. 

“I cried with relief knowing that we might survive,” said Manners. “They [the French mountaineers] supported us to get across the steep glacier that would have been impossible without our equipment, crampons and ice axes”. 

“We would [have] either frozen to death or attempted to cross the steep glaciers to our peril.”

Cheetah Helicopter

Manners and Dovrak were rescued by a lightweight Indian Airforce Cheetah Helicopter, designed for high altitude flights (Image credit: Getty Images)

With four separate peaks each over 20,000ft tall, the Chaukhamba is a monstrous climb in the Gangotri group of the Northern Indian Himalayas. First summited in 1952, Chaukhamba’s four peaks have become a pilgrimage for the world's very best climbers.  

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Will Symons
Will Symons
Staff Writer

Will Symons developed his love of the outdoors as a student, exploring every inch of Sussex’s South Downs national park and wild swimming off the Brighton seafront. Now a Staff Writer for Advnture, Will previously worked as a freelance journalist and writer, covering everything from cricket to ancient history. Like most Advnture staff, Will’s time is rarely spent indoors, he can often be found hiking, wild swimming or playing cricket.