British climber, 37, who went missing up 23,000ft mountain found after frantic message to base camp

Fay Manners and friend Michelle Dvorak vanished while climbing a mountain in India

A British climber who vanished for three days in the Himalayas has made it down safely. Fay Manners and her American friend Michelle Dvorak were climbing India's Chaukhamba mountain when they became unaccounted for on Thursday, October 3.

The pair were stranded at an altitude of around 6,000m, Indian news agency IANS reported. Fay, 37, and Michelle, 31, were airlifted down the mountain on Sunday, October 6.

It followed a huge 80-hour search by the Indian Air Force, army and local authorities. Fay wrote on her Instagram after the rescue mission had concluded and said: "We're back down and safe."

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She said the pair had lost their equipment after a rockfall crashed into it, Mirror reports. Fay toldThe Telegraph : "We were pulling up my bag and she had her bag on her.

"And the rockfall came, cut the rope with the other bag, and it just went down the entire mountain." She added: "We sent a message to our friends and they knew.

"I live in France and that team is also coming from France… and so they had told [the rescuers] "oh they are stuck on the mountain, they have no equipment". So then this other team [of mountaineers] came to help us."

The Indian Air Force said on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter: "The rescue of two foreign (US & UK) mountaineers from Chaukhamba III trek in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli is a testament to the resilience and skill of the Indian Air Force, along with the collaborative efforts of State Disaster Response Force, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, and French mountaineers.

"After battling two days of bad weather, the IAF’s Cheetah helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet, showcasing remarkable coordination in extreme conditions." Fay had sent a frantic message to base camp on Thursday, October 3.

She had warned that their equipment had fallen down a steep gorge. Searches had to be stopped on Friday, October 4, due to poor weather conditions and the high altitude which helicopters could not reach.

But authorities said they had intended to retrace the pair's route up the mountain before finding the climbers on Sunday. Fay, from Bedford, looks to 'inspire women to pursue their interest' in mountaineering.

She had moved from the UK to the Alps in pursuit of her passion for alpine climbing. Michelle, 31, is a University of Washington alumni.

The pair set off from New Delhi after receiving permission to scale Chaukhamba III on September 15. The Foreign Office previously said it was supporting Fay's family during the search for her.