In our story earlier today about Jannu East (7,468m), we described how Benjamin Vedrines, Leo Billon, and Nicolas Jean turned around near the summit ridge as they attempted a new route up the highly difficult north face. However, something happened during their descent: American Sam Hennessey called for their help after partner Mike Gardner suffered a fatal fall.
Vedrines didn’t mention anything about this on his social media but told the story to the French mountain site Alpinemag. He noted that his team decided to turn around because Leo Billon was feeling sick.
As they rappelled down the middle of the face, Vedrines saw American Sam Hennessey waving at him. Apparently, the line the Americans were climbing crossed the French route.
“But I couldn’t see his partner, Mike [Gardner],” Vedrines told AlpineMag. “I took my hood off and paid attention to what Sam was trying to tell me.”
Body still missing
Hennessey explained that his partner had fallen all the way to the base of the face. When the two parties reached the point where their routes intersected, the French told Hennessey to descend with them.
They rappelled down the last 700m together. Once at the base of the face, they looked for Gardner’s body, but all they found was some clothing.
Sam Hennessey, left, and Mike Gardner. Photo: Mike Gardner/Instagram
We are waiting for more details about the cause of the accident. Hennessey was on his third attempt to climb the north face of Jannu East in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region. Two of his attempts were with Gardner. Hennessey had received an American Alpine Club Cutting Edge Grant for this project.
Mike Gardner was a second-generation mountain guide from Idaho. In the Arcteryx video below, he describes himself as a climber, skier, but most of all, as a skateboarder.
