Five deaths in Dhaulagiri and another in Jannu

Death has struck again in the Himalayas in two separate accidents. The bodies of five Russian climbers who went missing during their summit attempt on Dhaulagiri have been found at 7,100m during a helicopter search. The team, led by Alexander Dusheykohad begun its ascent on October 6, but had not given any further news. Their bodies were spotted during a reconnaissance flight in which Denis Aleksenkowho reached the summit on October 5. The cause of their fall is still uncertain, but could be linked to an avalanche or a collective slide if the climbers were attached to the same rope.

A sixth member of the team, Valery Shamalohad turned around before reaching the summit and was evacuated to a hospital in Kathmandu. Shamalo had previously survived an accident in 2017 on Lhotse, which required the amputation of his toes and parts of his fingers.

American Mike Garner suffers fatal fall at Jannu

Benjamin Vedrines, Léo Billon and Nicolas Jean had to turn around near the summit ridge during their ascent on the north face of Jannu. During their rappelling, they encountered Sam Hennesseywho asked them for help after her partner’s fatal fall Mike Gardner. Hennessey said Gardner fell to the base of the face, and they then descended the last 700 meters together. Initially, they only found clothing belonging to Gardner.

Sam Hennessey was on his third attempt to climb the north face of Jannu East, with two of those attempts made with Gardner. The latter, a second-generation mountain guide, was also a passionate skier and skateboarder. Hennessey received a grant from the American Alpine Club for this project.