Group of eight including four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and an Indian climber were attempting to climb Nanda Devi mountain

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Eight climbers missing after avalanches in the Himalayas have not been found during initial airborne searches, and hopes that they will be discovered are slim.

Two Indian air force helicopters have been searching around the Nanda Devi mountain, India’s second highest peak, which the group were attempting to climb on a previously unused route.

However, the operation had to be suspended because of poor weather, and it will take days to trek to the last known location of the group – four people from Britain, two from the US, one from Australia and one from India.

The eight were part of a larger contingent of 12 climbers who began their ascent on 13 May from the village of Munsiyari in northern India, near the western Nepal border.

The group had reached their second base camp at 4,870 metres (15,977ft) by 22 May, but on 25 May the expedition’s deputy leader, Mark Thomas, returned to camp with three others, with their fellow climbers due to make a summit attempt on an unclimbed peak at 6,477 metres (21,250ft).

When the others did not return as planned, a team member was sent down and informed officials late on Friday, as satellite phones are reportedly not allowed in the border region because of security concerns.

The four were picked up by helicopter on Saturday and video footage showed them arriving in Pithoragarh. They have been named by India TV as Mark Thomas, Ian Wade, Kate Armstrong and Zachary Quain.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ruth McCance, from Sydney, Australia.

Local authorities named the eight people who remain missing as Martin Moran, the expedition leader, John McLaren, Rupert Whewell and Richard Payne, all from the UK, Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel from the US, Ruth McCance from Australia, and Chetan Pandey, a guide from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.

Moran is a highly experienced climber who has led groups on expeditions to the mountains for almost three decades, while Payne is a lecturer at the University of York. “We are extremely concerned for his safety,” it said.

McCance, from Sydney, is an experienced climber who wrote in her blog that she stopped climbing at the age of 30 before beginning again at the age of 47.

“As much as I loved it and saw others climbing safely and well, I became overwhelmed by the risks involved, so I stopped,” she wrote.

“I stopped climbing when I was 30 because I had run out of mental and emotional reserves. I didn’t know at the time but I was struggling with a perfect storm of inherited beliefs of ‘don’t push your luck’ and ‘don’t trust yourself’.

“Each time I lead a climb successfully, rather than confirming my competence it became another lucky escape from what I believed was an inevitable accident.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The group pose for a picture in Munsiyari before taking on the climb. Photograph: Handout ./Reuters

On Sunday, her husband Trent Goldsack told the Sydney Morning Herald the Nanda Devi climb had been a long-time ambition.

“Ever since I’ve known her, this is something she has wanted to do. She’s an amazing woman,” he said.

He spoke to McCance a week ago via a text message, when she wrote: “OK at base camp.”

“They basically went dark after they left Delhi, but that was expected. She’s done this stuff before,” Goldsack said.

In a statement, Moran’s family said they were calling for the search area to be widened, and wished it to continue until there was clear evidence of the wellbeing or otherwise of all those in the climbing group.

“The first aerial recce has concluded and one tent was spotted, but there were no signs of human movement,” Vijay Kumar Jogdanda, the top civil servant in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state, told the Guardian on Sunday.

He confirmed there had been a number of avalanches in the Nanda Devi peak region and said prints had been spotted leading into the site of an avalanche.

Another helicopter reconnaissance mission is expected to begin at 5am on Monday local time. Jogdanda said visibility was poor and there had been storms. Asked what the chances were of finding the eight people, he said: “It is difficult.”

Two groups of 24 rescuers – including police and disaster response personnel – have been mobilised for the search. The first group will need at least three days to walk to the avalanche site, and drones will also be used.

An Indian Mountaineering Foundation spokesman, Amid Chowdhury, told AAP: “Today’s search has not hinted at any results. We have not been able to spot any people or any gear or any clothing. It’s not looking too good.”

He added: “Since we have been unable to see anything beyond the footsteps ending where the avalanche came down, it’s not possible to make a definite, very certain conclusion that they were indeed in the avalanche or they were not.”

The climbers disappeared on the Indian side of the Himalayas, and it is unknown whether they went missing during their ascent or descent.

It has been the deadliest mountaineering season since 2015, with at least 11 people – including a British man and an Irish man – dying on Everest amid overcrowding and poor weather.

The casualty rate in the region where the climbers are missing is almost five times higher than on Mount Everest, according to officials.

Moran was part of the first team to complete a continuous traverse of all the Alpine 4,000-metre peaks without using any motorised assistance, taking 52 days in 1993, and has also climbed numerous difficult Alpine routes including the north face of the Eiger.

Since launching his own guiding company, Moran has led more than 40 trips to the Indian mountain ranges and is regarded as an expert on the area, making more than a dozen pioneering ascents in the Himalayas.