Two British and American women mountaineers were safely rescued on Sunday morning after being stranded for three days en route to the Chaukhamba-3 Himalayan Peak, which is above 6,000 metres in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Their rescue was made possible with the assistance of French climbers.

According to information provided by the state disaster management department on September 11, the two women mountaineers — US-based Michelle Theresa Dvorak (23) and British national Fav Jane Manners (27) — embarked on their mission from Delhi to climb the Himalayan Chaukhamba-3 Peak in Uttarkashi, which stands at 6,995 metres above sea level.

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However, on October 3, the duo of women mountaineers contacted their respective embassies via pager and informed them that they were stranded ahead of the Chaukhamba-3 Peak and had lost their belongings, including food items and climbing equipment. The embassies relayed this information to the Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF), which subsequently informed the District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC) in Chamoli that two women mountaineers were stuck at an altitude of 6,015 metres on the Chaukhambha-3 mountain, which stands at 6,995 metres.

Following this, the Chamoli district administration sought assistance from the state government, the Centre, and the Indian Air Force (IAF), prompting the launch of a rescue operation with immediate effect. Two Cheetah helicopters began their search on October 4 with the help of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

However, the stranded Americal and British women mountaineers remained untraceable during the IAF and SDRF search operations. This made the rescue effort for the two mountaineers challenging for the state government.

On the other hand, on September 18, a team of five French mountaineers had also set out on their expedition to climb the Chaukhamba peak. The IMF informed the French team about the American and British women trekkers stranded at an altitude of 6,015 metres ahead of the Chaukhamba Peak. The IMF also informed the state administration about the presence of the French mountaineers on their way to Chaukhamba.

Following this, the state administration contacted the French trekkers and provided them with the possible location of the two women. On October 5 evening, the French mountaineers were able to locate the missing British and American trekkers and informed the administration that both were safe.

The French team shared its location with the IAF and the district administration’s rescue and relief teams. Following this, on Sunday morning at around 6:45 am, the IAF helicopters safely rescued everyone and took them to Joshimath for medical assistance and other support.