Strong winds have again delayed a helicopter mission to retrieve the bodies of five climbers, including Sydney mountaineer Ruth McCance, from a notoriously dangerous Himalayan mountain.
Magistrate Vijay Jogdande also said the Indian Mountaineering Foundation could launch a ground expedition to help evacuate the bodies, which have been spotted at an altitude of 5,000 metres.
Mountaineer Ruth McCance, from Sydney, was on an expedition that was hit by an avalanche. Source: Facebook
He was responding to a statement by the foundation on Saturday that it was ready to launch an expedition. The foundation complained that it has been waiting for the permission of state authorities for the past three days.
Five bodies were spotted below where the eight-member international team was hit by an avalanche, and all eight missing climbers are feared dead.
Sydney mountaineer Ruth McCance is missing presumed dead on Nanda Devi East along with British team leader Martin Moran, three other UK climbers, two men from the United States and an Indian liaison officer.
The foundation said its team of highly experienced mountaineers was standing by to move while it had a window of 15-20 days to complete the operation before monsoon rains arrive.
Deadly season
It has been one of the deadliest climbing seasons in the Himalayas for several years. More than 20 people have been killed in the mountains, including 11 on Mount Everest, the world's highest peak that has been plagued by poor weather, inexperienced climbers and overcrowding.
Overcrowding has become a serious issue in the Himalayas. Source: Nirmal Purja/Twitter @nimsdai
Nanda Devi, at 7,816 metres and its sister mountain, Nanda Devi East, are among the world's most challenging peaks and only a handful of people have climbed them.
The leader of the missing group, Martin Moran, was the first person to summit Changuch, another peak in the area, and was known as a "godfather" of guiding in the Himalayas, according to a video diary of Rob Jarvis, who accompanied him on that expedition in 2009.
"He was very well versed with the area, but the route they were taking is not usually travelled," Gunjiyal said.
Many of the other missing climbers are veterans but with little experience of Nanda Devi and its surrounding peaks, he said.
Indian authorities have identified the eight missing as Moran, McCance, John McLaren, Rupert Whewell and Richard Payne, all from Britain, Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel from the United States and liaison officer Chetan Pandey from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
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