Indian climber Anurag Maloo made a failed bid to scale Mount Annapurna in Nepal without oxygen. While descending, one mistake and he fell into a deep crevasse. In a valiant effort, he was rescued three days later, barely showing any signs of life
By PI Bureau
In a “one-in-a-million operation,” a small group of climbers pulled off a miraculous rescue of Indian climber Anurag Maloo, who had fallen into a deep crevasse on Mount Annapurna in Nepal on April 17. Three days after the mishap, when all hope of finding him alive seemed lost, Maloo was found in the crevasse, barely showing any signs of life. Hardly breathing but alive, he was airlifted by a chopper to a hospital at Pokhara and later to Kathmandu.
Anurag’s brother, Asish Maloo, said, “When the unconscious body of Anurag reached the hospital, there were no symptoms of heartbeat and breathing was also not noticeable.” The doctors performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for three hours to bring back the heartbeat, he added.
Anurag, 34, a resident of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, was attempting Annapurna, his first 8,000-er, without oxygen after learning that another Indian climber, Baljeet Kaur, was doing so.
Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world and is known for its treacherous terrain.
Asked what the rescue operation was like, Cheepal Sherpa, one of the rescuers, simply said, “Scary.” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, organiser of the expedition, quipped, “This was a one-in-a-million rescue.”
The rescue mission was mounted by a group of bravehearts. Mountaineer Adam Bielecki of Poland abandoned his own expedition to help others in the rescue.
His climbing partner, Mariusz Hatala, plus Lakpa Nurbu Sherpa, Cheepal Sherpa, Dawa Nurbu Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa and Tashi Sherpa, coordinated from Base Camp by Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, put together the rescue operation. Bielecki, Hatala (and possibly a third person) rappelled into the crevasse where Maloo had fallen three days earlier.
“I thought I was looking for a body in that crevasse, (which was) 50 metres deep,” Bielecki later said. “Then I realised that he was alive.”
Maloo’s Mistake
Cheepal Sherpa, who accompanied Maloo on his expedition, said that the Indian climber, while descending, caught the wrong rope which led to his fall into the deep crevasse.
“Instead of catching the rope used for ascending or descending the mountain, he caught the rope used for carrying goods, which is very short and with no joint,” the Sherpa said.
Maloo was the only person from the expedition organised by Seven Summit Treks who could not make it to the summit that day (April 17).
According to Sherpa, Maloo reached over 7,600 metres without oxygen but could not ascend farther. “As he looked very weak and his moves were slow while ascending, I told him to abandon the attempt and take rest for the time being.”
Eyewitness Account
Another climber, Moeses Fiamoncini of Brazil, went down at the same time Maloo did and witnessed the accident.
“Maloo was very weak…so I descended all the time some metres behind or in front of him, and so did his Sherpa. He was never alone,” Fiamoncini told a website.
The climbers eventually reached a vertical section requiring an eight-metre rappel. “Maloo asked me to go in front of him. There were three ropes. I checked one, made sure it was okay, and rappelled. When I finished, I looked up and saw, to my horror, that Maloo was rappelling on a very short rope, only a couple of metres long.”
“I shouted to him, telling him to stop, to look at the rope, but he didn’t. He fell when the rope ended, and he hit the hard ice one metre to the right of me and immediately slid down, rolling, for some more metres until he disappeared in the crevasse. I was horrified.”
“I yelled, calling his name. His Sherpa took a rope and approached the edge of the crevasse, looking and calling him. We took a lot of risks remaining there, in a section completely exposed to avalanches, and avalanches fell constantly.We remained there for a long time, calling him. But he never made a sound, not even when falling. In such circumstances, I knew the possibility of finding him alive was really very slim.”
Rescue Efforts
Cheepal Sherpa, giving details of the rescue efforts, said on the first day two unsuccessful attempts were made.
The next day a helicopter was mobilised to locate the site and on the third day, seven Sherpa guides were mobilised for the rescue.
“They stayed in the snow the whole night. Anurag was found the next morning (April 20) at 7 am. He was brought to the Base Camp and then rushed to the hospital in Pokhra.”
Maloo is on a mission to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres and the seven highest points on all seven continents to create awareness and drive action towards achieving the UN Global Goals.
