Cause of Mauduit Death Confirmed
Climbing Companion Tells His Story
Tuesday, September 29, 1998
In May 1998, noted female French alpinist Chantal Mauduit was missing
for several days on Nepal's
Dhaulagiri before her body, along with that of her Sherpa companion
Tshering, was
found in a tent at camp II. Ed Viesturs, who was making his own attempt
on the mountain at the same time, reported to The Mountain Zone on the
tragedy.
Viesturs, who
had climbed with Mauduit on K2 in 1992 (a story featured in the
book, In the Zone), noted that Camp II was exposed to
avalanche and spindrift and he speculated that the two had perished in
their tent due to avalanche, snow build up, or from using a stove in a
closed
tent covered with snow.
Francois Mauduit, the brother of Chantal Mauduit, recently forwarded to
The Mountain Zone a
letter written by Frederique Delrieu to the editor of the French
magazine Montagne ("Mountain"). Delrieu, a friend and climbing companion
of Chantal Mauduit,
states that evidence shows that Mauduit's and Tshering's
deaths resulted from a small avalanche, not from suffocation or from
failure to dig out the tent.
"A small avalanche could
well have
been the cause of the accident," Viesturs said. "At the time there
seemed no way of
knowing for sure exactly what had occurred. Whatever happened, her death
deeply affected everyone
on the mountain last spring, and those all over the world who had known
her."
[The Mountain Zone's reports (below) were intended to shed some light on the
accident as quickly as possible. The editors regret if Ed Viesturs'
remarks, intended to provide information on the tragedy when none was
available elsewhere, were misinterpreted as being critical of Chantal
Mauduit.--Ed.]
The letter from Frederique Delrieu to Montagne follows:
"I have just come across the short article published in your magazine
concerning my friend Chantal Mauduit. Like many of those who had the
opportunity to know and be close to Chantal, I was extremely shocked by
what was written.
"I know Ed well. He is one of the best American climbers. The three of us
Chantal, Ed and I, climbed together in the Mont Blanc range. Chantal
was
in the lead with her high spirits and smile as usual and we were behind.
I am
anxious to talk to him to find out if what he had to say was not wrongly
interpreted.
"I went to Nepal with Mick and Marco (agents of Sector, her sponsor) to
get
Chantal's body and we met the veritable witnesses of the "after
accident".
Incidentally we were able to see Chantal dead right in front of us, her
neck broken by the sudden avalanche which killed her. The doctor in
charge
of establishing the death certificate is categorical as to the exact
cause
of death and the Sherpa who went to get Chantal and Tshering took pictures
which leave no doubt: a small avalanche, if you were to refer to the
Himalayan scale.
"The climbers who played an active role in the search for Chantal and
Tshering
and whom we met in Kathmandu believe they did not make a mistake: good
acclimatization, good choice of camp sites, departures with favorable
weather
forecasts. They were in high spirits and excellent shape. This time the
Dhaulagiri was extremely cruel. Chantal and Tshering payed the highest
price
for it.
"The image of Chantal victim of the mountain, inanimated due to
a
broken neck - will stick in my mind for a very long time. So I am
furious
when I read that 'the nonchalant and carefree' Chantal may have
forgotten to clean off the
excess snow which had accumulated on her tent and that she asked for a
gas
asphyxiation by cooking in her ice tomb.
"Chantal took part in 18 expeditions, participated in hundreds of well
known
ascents throughout the world and she had been climbing for 18 years. Do
you
think you can go back 18 times in a row to the highest altitudes and
participate in as many of the most demanding 'vertical trips' by
climbing
carelessly? Do you think that
Chantal and Tshering, as experienced as they were, did not know that you
have to take off the excess snow from the tent and that you do not cook
inside (this is one of the first things that Chantal taught me)?
"Her climbing friends can testify: Chantal was optimistic, adventurous,
strong and determined, but her master word was PRUDENCE. Chantal
believed
'no peak is worth dying for it' as too many other things interested her
and
incited her to come back down alive and take off with pleasure towards
alternate horizons. When 'it was not the right time', it was not the
right
time.
"Chantal was captivated by the beauty of the world and she looked
for
it everywhere, everyday. Up there, she expressed herself in the kingdom
which she had made her own. She was sincerely happy there, in perfect
harmony with nature and extremely at ease - which of course incited some
jealousy (it is difficult to admit that you are weaker than a very
beautiful and nice young woman who was naturally brilliant). She also
knew
how to look for and anticipate danger in order to avoid it. She
possessed a
rare intelligence and an unquestionable experience which she learned
from
the Himalayas. At the time of her death, she was one of the most
experienced Himalayists, having more lessons to give than to receive
concerning the situation (even if she hated that).
"She climbed to the top of mountains because she liked to be up top,
that's
all. Chantal travelled throughout the third world and she owed her freedom
to
the extraordinary opportunity of being born in a favorable part of the
world. This she never forgot because it is what permitted her to fulfill
her dreams. The rest, her recognition (TV, radio), her news coverage and
her achievements were not very important. She was led by her generous
heart
which dictated her acts without thinking, eager above all to progress as
an
individual.
"This was a very honest approach. So if some people think that she had
not
found one of the best ways to travel through the kingdom of the
Himalayas,
I will let them think about it on their own provided that they are
capable of doing it.
"Mountains are a domain where all of us who are alive inevitably were
lucky
one day - we were allowed a reprieve. Is there a climber in the world
who
never made a mistake, who never acted rashly? Mountains are dangerous
and
stronger than all of us - that should be clear. Chantal lost her life by
following her passion for the high altitude. She did not make a mistake.
But even if she had, there are more important things to remember than
that.
"Chantal, this time, as always, did everything necessary so that things
would go well. Nothing strange happened up there. An avalanche began
like
plenty elsewhere at the same time. Chantal and Tshering were hit, they
were
not lucky. The 14 mountains in the world above 8000 meters (26,195 feet)
are at the same time delicious and monstrous.
"I will never cease to thank Chantal. She helped me find more than a
mountain, showing an extraordinary route, filled with light, happiness
and
tolerance. Everyday I will remember the enchantment of the years I
spent
with her. At the end of the mass for Chantal, Christophe Profit said
something which I would like you to keep in mind : 'Above all, she
showed
that there was a beautiful way to get to the top.'"
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