The bodies of the five Russian climbers who died last week on Dhaulagiri were brought back to Base Camp earlier today.
A helicopter flying up to nearly 7,000m retrieved the bodies of Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko, and Dmitry Shpilevoy via a long line.
Other helicopters will later bring them back to Kathmandu.
During the recovery mission. Photo: Altitude Air/Instagram
Deceased climbers fell together
A search helicopter first spotted the bodies two days after the climbing team failed to return from their October 6 summit push.
The deceased climbers fell, apparently together, from some point on the long traverse under the summit ridge. They stopped some 200m below, at approximately 6,900m.
Today, Bibek Khadka of Altitude Air piloted the helicopter on several flights to the spots where the bodies lay. He dropped Dawa Phinjo Bhote and Lakpa Bhote, who gathered the bodies, which were then lifted by helicopter.
A long-line retrieval of the bodies. Photo: Captain Bibek Khadka
Less risk for rescuers
The helicopter allowed rescuers to avoid the potentially dangerous conditions on the mountain. That had been a concern among Russian audiences after Sergey Nilov lost his life on Gasherbrum IV trying to recover the body of his partner Dmitry Golovchenko. Golovchenko died the previous year.
Recovering the body was important for Golovchenko’s family, but the risk of recovery was too high, as results showed. Nilov died in an avalanche, leaving a wife and six children. The rest of the recovery team had to be rescued, some seriously injured.
The 15 Russians were the only climbers this season on Dhaulagiri. They climbed without supplementary oxygen or sherpa support beyond Base Camp. Denis Aleksenko and Artem Tsentsevitski summited on October 5 with no fixed ropes above their highest camp. A group of six followed on October 6.
In a moment of foresight that saved his life, one member, Valery Shamalo, turned around. He realized that the team would need to do the dangerous traverse on the way down from the summit at night. Shamalo returned to Camp 1 and was airlifted on October 8. The other five perished.
