Two climbers, Fay Jane Manners from the United Kingdom and Michelle Theresa Dvorak from the United States, were rescued on Sunday after being stranded for three days on the Chaukhamba-3 peak in India’s Uttarakhand state, The Associated Press reports.
The pair had been ascending a rocky section of the mountain when a rockfall severed their rope, sending their bags – containing crucial supplies like food, tents, and climbing gear – into a gorge.
The climbers, who lost most of their communication equipment in the incident, managed to send out an emergency message on Thursday after the rockfall. The rescue operation, which lasted 80 hours, involved the Indian Air Force and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.
Two Indian Air Force helicopters dispatched on Friday were initially unable to locate the climbers. However, a French mountaineering team, also attempting to climb Chaukhamba-3, located the stranded climbers on Saturday and relayed their coordinates to the rescue authorities.
The Indian Air Force, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), said they airlifted the climbers on Sunday “from 17,400 feet, showcasing remarkable coordination in extreme conditions.”
Chaukhamba-3, a mountain peak in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India, has proven to be a challenging climb. The climbers’
