Cliffhangers: Rescues That Made The Headlines

Rescuing a climber often calls for more courage than summiting a trophy peak.

Updated on: 17 May 2023 5:25 pm

Ralston’s story was turned into an Oscar-winning movie, ‘127 Hours’, starring James Franco.

Mountaineering is a dangerous pursuit. No season passes without a mishap and some rescue acts end up becoming nearly as famous as summit climbs. Here are some salvage acts that were miraculously carried out in extremely testing conditions.

Aron Ralston

In April 2003, American daredevil hiker and mountaineer Aron Ralston decided to go to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. He hiked through a slot canyon which is a long, narrow channel with sheer rock walls. At one point, a 363 kg boulder broke loose and trapped his right arm. At that time, he was 100 feet deep into the gorge and 20 miles from the nearest road. After five long days of struggle, Ralston did the unthinkable. A mechanical engineer by qualification, he deliberately broke the bones of his right arm, then sawed off the arm with a small blunt knife he was carrying. For survival all he had was two burritos, chocolate bars and some water. Ralston’s incredible story was turned into an Oscar winning movie, ‘127 Hours’, starring James Franco.

Baljeet Kaur

At over 8091 metres above sea level in Nepal, Annapurna is the tenth-highest peak in the world. It is also a tricky devil to master. India's Baljeet Kaur discovered this last month as she attempted to scale the mountain without supplemental oxygen. Kaur started well enough. On April 9, she tweeted that she was in her “comfort zone” and was seen resting at the Annapurna base camp. She went on to reach the summit, but while descending, she went missing near Camp IV on April 17. At least three helicopters were dispatched to find her. On April 18, the search came to fruition. Kaur was rescued from 7,363m after an aerial search team located her above Camp IV.

Anurag Maloo

Maloo’s case has intrigued the climbing world. The 34-year-old from Rajasthan went missing on the Annapurna on April 17 after he fell into a 70m deep crevasse while descending. Against all expectations, he was found alive after three days, thanks to the efforts of famous Polish mountaineer Adam Bielecki, Tashi Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks and team. He was rushed to Manipal Hospital in Pokhara and then airlifted to Kathmandu for further treatment. Anurag was then airlifted to New Delhi for further treatment at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after he had regained consciousness.

Wui Kin Chin

Another mountaineer who tried to scale Mount Annapurna but was unable to do so was Malaysia’s Wui Kin Chin. In April 2019, he was stranded on the mountain for two days, till a rescue helicopter spotted him. Immediately, four Sherpa rescuers reached the site, brought Chin down and rushed him to a local hospital. According to record books, dozens of climbers have died on Annapurna since it was first summited in 1950 by French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachena.