Ben Dare (left) save Scott Scheele's life. Photo / Martin Hunter
Staring 90m through a snowstorm down the treacherous slopes of one of Earth's unconquered mountains, Ben Dare could see his climbing buddy dangling unconscious from a rope. The pair were alone, 24 hours from camp and with no means of contacting anyone. "That's when the gravity sunk in," says Dare. "I knew we were in deep."
Nearly 6,500m high on a bitterly cold and nearly vertical icy face in the Himalayas, Dare was in a perilous situation.
His climbing partner, American-born Scott Scheele, had just been swept down the mountain in an avalanche and Dare now faced the prospect of single-handedly dragging and lowering his critically injured friend across perilous terrain if they were to make it out alive.
The pair were nearing the end of a difficult leg in a quest to reach the summit of Anidesha Chuli, an unclimbed peak in the remote northeast Himalayan mountain range.
They were just 400m from climbing history as part of a 2013 four-strong expedition, which included alpinists Rob Frost and Andrei van Dusschoten.
Scheele and Dare, two of the country's most experienced mountaineers, were working in tandem in the steep, unforgiving terrain, ascending the peak's icy, eastern face.
The day, which had dawned fine with light winds, had turned. It was snowing so heavily Dare was not able to see Scheele climbing 40m above him.
Scheele had taken the lead and, despite deteriorating conditions, was closing in on the crest of the east ridge. The pair made final radio contact with their expedition party at 2pm with a plan to call in 24 hours later. What happened next has led the Queenstown mountaineer to be recognised by the New Zealand Royal Humane Society, which will award Dare with a top civilian bravery medal.
Scheele was just 50m from the ridge crest, and 400m from the 6900m summit, when disaster struck.
A spindrift avalanche came rushing down the mountain directly into the climbers' path.
Firmly anchored by a snow stake, Dare hunkered down and braced for impact.
When he regained visibility he was greeted by the worst possible situation. The ropes connecting him to Scott that should have been above his head were now stretched far below. Through a break in the cloud he could see a motionless Scheele hanging upside down at the end of the rope.
"I knew if I didn't get both of us down then we would likely die.
"It was a case of not having options so I just had to dig in and get the job done."
Gingerly lowering himself down the mountain he discovered Scheele had regained consciousness and was struggling to right himself.
Scott Scheele scaling the North-East face of Anidesha Chuli in the Himalayas.
Amazingly, he had survived the near 100m plunge with no broken bones. But he had severe concussion and was incoherent and unable to climb.
"After he first regained consciousness he remained conscious throughout," Dare said. "But he couldn't really speak, fully control his movements and was not aware of his surroundings."
With no way of raising the alarm it was up to Dare to pull off a high-altitude rescue.
"I needed to get Scott off the mountain as quickly as possible so I blocked everything else out and focused solely on this."
With darkness descending, he lowered his climbing partner down the mountain, abseiling behind, before setting up their tent on a snow ledge and settling in for a fitful night's sleep.
Dare had to negotiate a route that weaved through steep and sometimes vertical ice cliffs.
"The way I brought Scott down was largely dependent on the terrain. The face itself was steep enough so that I could lower him down to the base, rope length by rope length.
"However, once we reached the base of the face we then had to complete a long descending traverse back to our previous camp.
"As we had to move sideways here I had to partially support, drag and carry Scott through the deep snow until we reached the tent."
The day dawned clear and Dare and Scheele finally reached the easy-angled snow above Camp 2 about midday.
It took another two hours for Dare to ferry their packs and the injured climber to the temporary base.
At 2pm, Dare made the scheduled radio contact with the expedition members who were waiting on the glacier below.
But the radio — stored in Scheele's pack and damaged during the fall — was not working and Dare was far from certain he was being heard.
He set off the emergency locator beacon concerned that it was too dangerous to continue a rescue effort on his own.
"It was our only real link to the outside world.
"I had been prepared to continue bringing Scott down the mountain towards our lower camps the next day but thankfully the beacon signal was detected back in New Zealand and contact was made with Rob and Andrei at base camp."
Scheele seen struggling during his attempt to summit Anidesha Chuli with Ben Dare.
Frost and van Dusschoten climbed through the night to reach the stricken pair and, using a satellite phone, were able to contact New Zealand and initiate an evacuation.
A helicopter took Scheele to Kathmandu where he spent 11 days in hospital before being cleared to fly back to New Zealand.
More than 18 months after the near-fatal fall, Scheele has made a full recovery.
But he has no recollection of the harrowing alpine drama and said: "A week of my life and memories are still erased."
He can only recall visits from Dare as he convalesced in the intensive care unit at Vayodha Hospital.
He said he will be forever grateful to his climbing partner for saving his life.
"I'm still alive, so I owe him a lot — I owe him the most, really.
"If for some reason I was left to fend for myself in the state I was in I surely would have submitted to the exposure."
He praised Dare's determination to get him off the mountain despite battling fatigue, tricky terrain and difficult atmospheric and snow conditions. "I'm happy that New Zealand will now know of Ben, his hard work in rescuing me, his impressive climbing accomplishments and that he is a stand-up guy."
Scott's mother, Libby Scheele, is thrilled Dare's bravery will be publicly recognised. The presentation will be made at Government House in June.
Describing him as "the most humble man I have ever met", she said the New Zealander's efforts showed extraordinary courage in one of the world's harshest environments.
"I am forever grateful that in the darkest hours, and the most desperate of times when Scott's life was in the greatest peril, that Ben Dare was there to bring him home.
"Ben is a hero. He rescued Scott one careful step at a time for over 24 hours at great peril to his own life.
"He tapped into a strength that was near superhuman and devised ingenious ways to move his injured mate, and he never gave up."
Dare, who was nominated by his fellow expedition team members to receive the award, dismisses suggestions of doing anything out of the ordinary.
"I have been rather humbled by the whole experience.
"I don't consider myself to be a hero and I believe that had the roles been reversed Scott would have done the exact same for me."
Dare, who is now in Canada working as a climbing mentor with the NZ Alpine Team, and Scheele are quick to redirect praise to the international team effort that brought them off the remote mountain so swiftly.
"Considering the circumstances, this was done very efficiently and the efforts of everyone back in New Zealand and the heli rescue team in Nepal were really commendable.
"They were able to reach us later that day, two days after the accident, and airlift Scott and I back to Kathmandu," Dare said.
But for Scheele, a former Fox Glacier guide who now lives in Australia, a lingering disappointment remains that his fall cost the expedition the chance to be the first party to climb the peak.
"We weren't there for the ego boost so many mountaineers strive for these days with climbing.
"We went because it was a great adventure on a beautiful unclimbed mountain with unexplored terrain.
"Every single one of us would have done the same as what Ben did were any of us in need.
"In effect, I ended the expedition for all of us.
"I'm disappointed that as a result of my fall, Rob and Andrei never had a fair go at climbing the mountain."
They allege the Crown ignored Treaty obligations by not engaging with them.