Two climbers who went missing for several days while making their way up a Himalayan mountain have revealed that cuddling together to preserve their body heat was the key to saving them from their terrifying ordeal.
Fay Manners, 37, and US climber Michelle Dvorak, 31, had been unaccounted for since Thursday when they got into difficulty while trekking up India‘s Chaukhamba mountain.
The pair sent a panicked message back to base camp to say they were in trouble having lost their climbing equipment, tent and food down a gorge.
Though they were stranded at an elevation of 6,015m (19,700 ft) as they attempted to get to the peak of the mountain in Uttarakhand, they have since been rescued in a daring helicopter mission and are now safe.
Speaking to the Times from the offices of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in Dehil, Manners – an experienced climber, said: ‘Only our body warmth saved us. Cuddling saved us.’
She and Dvorak had lost their bags on their ascent following a…