2024-10-20 11:15:00
They interrupted the climb to rescue the climbers, trapped by a rock fall for two days, in weather conditions that made it impossible for the helicopter to intervene.
“We did it, man, we did it!” : In the video shared by the French army on its social networks, the relief and pride of the three are palpable as their two protégés are finally evacuated by helicopter. At the beginning of October, these three soldiers of the High Mountain Military Group (GMHM) rescued two mountaineers stranded at more than 6,000 meters above sea level, without tents, supplies or equipment, on the slopes of Chaukhamba, a mountain which reaches 7,138 meters altitude. meters. in an Indian region of the Himalayas.
According to the report provided by Caretaker From this heroic rescue, the ascent of British mountaineer Fay Manners and her climbing partner, American Michelle Dvorak, turned into a nightmare on October 3, when a landslide severed their rope and led to the loss of all their equipment (tents, supplies, technical material for belaying and climbing) in a ravine, without the possibility of recovery. The two women were not amateurs, far from it: they had received the green light from the local authorities to attempt the climb, and are expert mountaineers, sponsored by famous mountain brands such as The North Face. But, thus trapped, they had no choice but to send an SOS message and wait for help.
Except that the position of the two climbers and the weather conditions did not allow rescue by helicopter. Luckily for them, a team of three French soldiers, elite mountaineers, were nearby. The three men were able to exchange lamp signals with the two climbers in difficulty, before joining them and helping them descend to less inaccessible heights.
“They’re all alive!”
In the video released by the army, the two women can be seen frozen after two days of waiting in apocalyptic conditions: once in the company of the rescuers, they say they cannot sleep in the tent and have had to share a single sleeping bag. for two, for all two days and two nights, they were stuck. The three French soldiers then filmed a more reassuring sequence, where we see the two women falling asleep in a tent they lent them while waiting for air help sent by the Indian Air Force: “They’re all alive!” Good night!” one of them says cheerfully.
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Finally, the next day, an Indian Air Force helicopter finally managed to land to evacuate the two survivors. “They are safe, but they are exhausted” a spokesperson for the Indian authorities then clarified.
It must be said that it wasn’t just anyone who saved them: i “Lieutenant Colonel Jacques-Olivier”THE “Sergeant Vivien” and the “Clovis Hunter” are all three members of the GMHM of Chamonix, Il “Patrol of France” mountaineering in the French armies. This small army unit attached to the 27th mountain infantry brigade brings together about ten soldiers and has the mission of undertaking spectacular and dangerous mountain expeditions, in extreme environments, to participate in the development of knowledge and the improvement of the units’ equipment mountain elite. .
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