Dhaulagiri Tragedy. Two Romanian women, Mrs. Taina Coliban and ...

D haulagiri Tragedy. Two R om anian w om en, M rs. Taina C oliban and M rs. Sandita Isaila disappeared on the norm al northeast-ridge route o f D haulagiri. M rs. C aliban was 48 years old and M rs. Isaila 42. Perhaps because o f their age, they w ere extrem ely slow clim bers. They had few other clim bers on their team and attem pted to reach their tow ering sum m it w ithout com panions, w ithout artificial oxygen, w ithout a m eans o f com m unication to Base C am p and w ith a m inim um o f clim bing gear. M rs. Coliban had clim bed in N epal once, seven years ago, during a b rief attem pt on D haulagiri, and both w om en had success­ fully scaled 6995-m eter (22,950-foot) K han Tengri in the T ien Shan. They had not intended to clim b alone but had hoped to add them selves to som eone e lse’s expedition to an 8000er. U nable to do so, they took a perm it for D haulagiri, put the nam es o f W anda R utkiew icz and the young Pole w ho was with her on K angchenjunga on their m em bership list and added a C hilean, who started with them but was able to clim b only a short distance above Base C am p before becom ing ill and left Base C am p before they were reported missing. Since their equipm ent was not o f the best, their Sherpa K azi thinks that perhaps inadequate tent pegs could not hold their sm all tent securely w hile they were in it and it may have blow n o ff the ridge. The two w om en were last seen at m idday on M ay 11. K azi had been helping them carry supplies to the base o f the clim b. He was asked to stay at Base C am p while they w ent as quickly as possible for the sum m it and to w atch them from there w ith binoculars. T he m ornings w ere clear but it clouded and snow ed in the afternoons. On M ay 11, he saw them on a snow ridge at 6500 m eters, clim bing tow ard their intended cam psite at 7000 m eters. The site was visible from Base C am p but K azi never saw their tent there. He scanned the ridge day after day but never saw any sign o f them . T here was a big snow storm on M ay 23. He finally struck cam p on M ay 29, taking their personal belongings to K athm andu but leaving food and fuel in case they m iraculously got back dow n to Base. E l iz a b e t h H a w l ey