원정 개요

CI at North East Col
high point at C3.

Letter from Jean-Michel Asselin - 17 June 1998
Chantal Mauduit's death

I discussed with her family. For them, there are absolutely no doubts: she was killed by an avalanche. Her cervical vertebrae were broken, probably by the weight of the snow. An avalanche jumped over a rock band, and partially crashed on the tent killing Ang Tsering and Chantal on the spot. The story of an intoxication by gas from the stove is totally rejected by the family.


Letter by Jean-Michel Asselin.

Tried for summit push from C3 about 29-30 April but not above C3 because of wind and snow; next time she went up was when she arrived at C2 with Ang Tshering and nothing more known. On 13 May C2 tent opened by Roju using knife but only small cut in tent and did not see bodies; tent had been crushed by snow, maybe by avalanche (small slabs), but cause of death maybe from faulty gas stove - two people sleeping suggests stove and not avalanche and its pressure. Was bad weather period and only Chantal and Ang Tshering went up at this time; all others stayed in BC. Avalanche not cause but constant snow sent snow moving down gently. Italians dug for an hour to make possible to really open tent from snow piled up against its side and then found bodies on 16th - not known whether she went above C2 again.


Notes regarding deaths of Chantal Mauduit and Ang Tshering Sherpa:

Guy Cotter and Ed Viesturs of New Zealand-US-Finnish Dhaulagiri expedition, 20 May 98:

"We've rescued Chantal enough times [in previous seasons on other mountains] that we thought she was going to get away with it this time too." She was "naively casual" and "didn't know when to call quits," but this wasn't the reason for their deaths. Were they lazy about digging their tent out from under snow piling up? Careless about their gas stove? Did lightning strike them? (Her C3 at 7000m was at an "unbelievable site on exposed rock").


Jose Carlos Tamayo of Spanish (San Sebastian) expedition, 21 May 98

On 26 April, Tamayo was nearly buried in C2 by all night snowfall. Snow remains there because terrain not steep. Perhaps they suffocated from snowfall piling up.

Sherpas who brought bodies of Mauduit and Ang Tshering by helicopter to Kathmandu, 26 May 98. Tent was buried under one meter of snow and they had to dig it out. Cause of death was an avalanche. (This depth of snow and fact of a sizeable avalanche are discounted by other teams there.) [Mauduit's body taken to France for cremation].


Tone Skarja, leader of Slovenian Dhaulagiri expedition, 4 June 98

Their deaths probably caused by gas stove. On 9-10 May it was snowing all the time, and most of the tents at C2 were covered by new snowfall. They probably died on 11-12 May.


Franco Brunello and Tarcisio Bello of Italian Dhaulagiri expedition - 5 June 98

Brunello was last person from any other team to speak with Mauduit: on 7 May he was in C2 on a windy, snowy day and saw her and her Sherpa arrive at camp at 4:00 pm. Her tent was 50 meters above the Italians tent, and as she went by he warned her above crevasses above his tent. Snow fell all that night and it was windy; on the 8th it was very windy and he and teammate Celestino Toldo went down to base camp. For the next day there was bad weather. On 14 May Brunello went again to C2 and went to Mauduit's tent, which was covered by snow except for one end. He opened the zipper of her tent to see what was inside; he found two unopened bags of Greek food (there was a Greek team on the mountain also) which he took out, and then he saw a sleeping bag. Next day Toldo went to her tent with a shovel and shovelled snow off of it; he too opened zipper and saw two sleeping bags with bodies inside them. Mauduit expression was peaceful but her jaw appeared to have been broken by a piece of ice outside the tent; snow was pressing against the tent. Brunello thinks a piece of ice striking her head from outside the tent must have killed her "in a moment." It is not clear to him why Ang Tshering died, but the Sherpa probably suffocated. Gas would not have been a factor, because the type of gas they were using does not come out of its container without fire under it, and there was no sign of fire having burned anything in the tent.