Climbers rescued after three days on mountain

Fay Manners, a British climber, has expressed her immense relief after being rescued from the treacherous conditions of Chaukhamba mountain in the Himalayas. Alongside her climbing partner, Michelle Dvorak from the United States, Fay found herself stranded for two harrowing days when the rope that was supposed to lift their food, tent, and climbing gear snapped. This unfortunate incident left them without any supplies at an altitude exceeding 20,000 feet. Despite sending an emergency message, search and rescue teams initially struggled to locate the pair. In an interview with the BBC, Fay described the terrifying moments they faced as they attempted to descend the mountain on their own before being found by rescuers. When Fay was finally located, she could not hold back her tears of joy. Fay, who specializes in challenging climbs and currently resides in Chamonix, France, recounted the moment the rope broke, saying she felt a deep sense of 'despair' as she watched their supplies tumble down the mountain. 'I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,' she shared. With no safety equipment, no tent, no stove to melt snow for water, and no warm clothing for the cold nights, the situation was dire. They even lost their ice axes and crampons, which are essential for climbing. Fortunately, they managed to send a text message to emergency services, which initiated a search and rescue operation. A helicopter made several attempts to locate the stranded climbers, but poor weather conditions hampered their efforts. Fay described how they took shelter on a ledge as snow began to fall, sharing the only sleeping bag they had. 'I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking, and with the lack of food, my body was running out of energy to keep warm,' she explained. The following morning, a helicopter returned to search for them but was unable to find them, forcing the climbers to endure another night on the mountain. Fay explained that the conditions were 'brutal' for the rescue team due to fog, high altitude, and the vastness of the mountain face. After managing to abseil down to some melting ice, the two women were able to catch some water in their bottles. They barely survived the storm that afternoon and the second night in the freezing cold with no food and only a little water. 'The helicopter flew past again but couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,' Fay said. Realizing they had to take matters into their own hands, they began to cautiously descend the mountain, aware that their weakened state could lead to mistakes. During their descent, they spotted a team of French climbers who had heard about their situation from mutual friends. These climbers generously shared their equipment, food, and sleeping bags with Fay and Michelle, and they contacted the helicopter with their exact location for rescue. 'I cried with relief knowing we might survive,' Fay said. The climbers assisted them in crossing a steep glacier that would have been impossible without the right equipment. 'We would have either frozen to death or attempted to cross the steep glaciers without the right equipment and slipped to our peril,' she added. In 2022, Fay became the first woman to successfully climb the Phantom Direct route on the south face of the Grand Jorasses in Mont Blanc. She has also achieved climbs in Pakistan and Greenland in the past year. Fay aims to inspire women to take an interest in alpinism and mountaineering as a hobby. She described the incident that caused the rope to break as 'unfortunate and very rare. ' 'We did very well to survive and retreat in the way that we did,' she reflected. After the ordeal, Fay admitted to feeling 'exhausted, mentally destroyed, and overtired to the point I can’t sleep. ' Now, the pair plans to enjoy some local Indian cuisine before they can catch a flight home to their loved ones. A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office confirmed that they have been supporting the family of the British woman reported missing in India, who has since been safely rescued.