The family of the famous 34-year-old Georgian mountaineer, Archil Badriashvili, has been informed of his death on the peak of Shkhelda.
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Archil Badriashvili was on an expedition on Shkhelda with three other climbers. They reported that on August 10, while descending from the peak, the weather worsened, and a rock fell near Archil, causing him to fall off the ridge.
Search for Mountaineer Archil Badriashvili on Shkhelda Peak Continues - Helicopter Delayed Again
His friends on the expedition made it back that same day and notified emergency management that they needed urgent help. Employees of the Mestia rescue service and local mountaineers set out for Shkhelda around 17:00-18:00 after receiving the notification. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs helicopter was only involved in the rescue operation on the second day, on the morning of August 11.
Residents of Svaneti are demanding an explanation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They want to know
- why the helicopter was not involved in the rescue operation on the same day when the weather improved in the Shkhelda area on the evening of August 10;
- why the helicopter was late to land in Svaneti on the morning of August 11;
- and why the helicopter was not provided with the required amount of fuel. After the three surviving members of the expedition were safely transported to Mestia on the morning of August 11, the helicopter was parked for more than half a day and flew to the valley for the second time only after a vehicle loaded with aviation fuel arrived in Svaneti and the pilots refueled.
The media relations representative of the Emergency Situations Management Service told Mtis Ambebi that on the evening of August 10, the weather was bad in Svaneti, with rain and hail, which made it impossible to fly. However, local residents dispute this, stating that in the evening, before nightfall, for about three hours, there was no more rain, thunder, or fog.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not explained why the helicopter that arrived in Svaneti was stopped for several hours on the morning of August 11.
This is not the first time that the Ministry of Internal Affairs helicopter was not involved in a rescue operation in a timely manner. A similar situation occurred at the Shovi resort on August 3, 2023, when 33 people died in a natural disaster.
Georgia did not have dedicated rescue helicopters; Soviet-made Mi 8 helicopters belonging to the border police were used in operations during emergencies.
On July 29, 2022, during a rescue operation in Gudauri, one of these border police helicopters crashed, and all eight people on board died - 4 crew members, 2 rescuers, and 2 emergency medical center medics. The helicopter was completely burnt. Only after this incident did the government purchase three new H145 helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, costing 26.5 million euros. Two of these helicopters have already arrived in Georgia. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these helicopters are equipped to operate at high altitudes and are fully outfitted with mountaineering and rescue equipment.
Archil Badriashvili received numerous significant awards in the field of mountaineering. In 2022, he, along with Bakar Gelashvili and Giorgi Tepnadze, was awarded the Golden ice axe Prize. The Georgian mountaineers earned this award by conquering the 7,303-meter-high peak, where no one had set foot before and which is considered one of the most challenging routes. The peak "Saraghrar Northwest" is located in western Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. Attempts to climb the peak in the 1970s and 1980s were unsuccessful. In 2019, Archil Badriashvili, together with Giorgi Tefnadze, climbed Nanga Parbat, an 8,126-meter-high peak in Pakistan's Karakorumi mountain range, known for its technically challenging and snowy slopes.
Mtis Ambebi expresses deep sorrow over the death of Archil Badriashvili and extends its condolences to his family, friends, the mountaineering community, and his fans.
