Earlier today, we reported on the attempt by Benjamin Vedrines, Leo Billon, and Nicolas Jean to climb a new route up the tough north face of Jannu East (7,468m). They turned back just short of the summit ridge because Leo was feeling unwell. During their descent, they received an urgent call for help from American climber Sam Hennessey, who said his partner, Mike Gardner, had fallen to his death.
Vedrines didn’t post about the incident on social media, but he shared the details with French site Alpinemag. As the team rappelled down the face, Vedrines noticed Sam waving at them. It turned out the Americans were climbing a route that crossed with the French team’s path.
“I couldn’t see Mike,” Vedrines said to Alpinemag. “I took off my hood and focused on what Sam was trying to communicate.”
Body Still Missing
Sam Hennessey explained that Mike Gardner had fallen all the way to the bottom of the mountain’s face. When both teams met at the intersection of their routes, the French climbers told Hennessey to come down with them.
They rappelled down the final 700 meters together. Once they reached the base of the mountain, they searched for Gardner’s body but only found some of his clothing.
We’re still waiting for more information about what caused the accident. This was Hennessey’s third attempt to climb the north face of Jannu East in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region, with two of those attempts being with Gardner. Hennessey had received an American Alpine Club Cutting Edge Grant for the project.
Mike Gardner was a second generation mountains guide from Idaho. In an Arcteryx video, he describes himself as not just a climber and skier, but most of all, a skateboarder.
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