The bodies of the three hopes of French mountaineering had still not been found, Wednesday morning, after their disappearance on October 26 while they were climbing a summit of the Himalayan range.
Louis Pachoud, 27, Gabriel Miloche, also 27, and Thomas Arfi, 34, had undertaken the ascent of the west face of Mingbo Eiger, in Nepal, which rises to 6,070 meters above sea level.
Members of the National Mountaineering Excellence Group (GEAN), an elite formation of the French Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs (FFCAM), they were part of a team that arrived at the end of September, in the Khumbu and Everest region, with the aim of climbing various summits culminating at some 5,000 and 6,000 m, south of Ama Dablam (6,814 m).
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"The hope of finding survivors is now almost nil," FFCAM said on Monday, while the search was taking place near the summit of Mingbo Eiger.
The last telephone contact with them from their bivouac dates back to October 26, according to the Federation.
“The overflight of their route on Monday, November 1 made it possible to locate their tracks up to 5900 m on the ridge leading to the summit.
At this altitude, the rescuers were able to observe the triggering of an avalanche, ”added the FFCAM.
These same traces show that they “gave up going to the top, turned around and started their descent by their ascent route”.
The rescuers found three bags, as well as the equipment of the bivouac.
"We will have to do our best, but under the authority of the Nepalese rescuers since it is they who are in charge of this rescue, recovering the bodies, if at all we can do it, we do not know if we will be able to do it. to do ”, specifies Nicolas Raynaud, President of the French Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs.