The search for an Australian woman whose trekking group went missing in the Indian Himalayas after an avalanche yielded no results on its seventh day.
Ruth McCance, a corporate leadership coach from Sydney, is missing with seven other climbers - four from Britain, two from the US, and one from India.
They were part of a 12-member expedition taking on a previously unclimbed route up India's second-highest peak, Nanda Devi East, which is 7,434m high.
Ruth McCance, from Sydney, and seven other climbers failed to return to base camp at Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India
The eight were doing a 'recce' to check the route but failed to return to base camp on Sunday 27 May.
A helicopter search on Sunday 3 June found their tents but saw no signs of life.
'Chances of survival are bleak,' said Vijay Jogdande, the top civil servant at the scene.
Indian Mountaineering Foundation spokesman Amit Chowdhury warned families to 'prepare for bad news.'
It comes after it emerged Ms McCance gave up climbing in her 30s due to the dangers, but took it up again three years ago.
She wrote in her blog in May 2016: 'As much as I loved it and saw others climbing safely and well, I became overwhelmed by the risks involved, so I stopped.
'Each time I led a climb successfully... it became another lucky escape.'
'At 47 I have started climbing again – I've changed my mind.'
The group of 13 headed into the mountains and eight including Ms McCance went ahead to scout the route but never returned
McCance's husband Trent Goldsack said the climb 'wasn't about ticking a box' for the executive coach.
'She has a real passion for the mountains and being out in wild environments. And she likes to extend herself... that's what was important to her,' he said.
Mr Goldsack said he barely heard from his wife after she arrived in India.
'They basically went dark after they left Delhi, but that was expected. She's done this stuff before,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The search team of about 15 is made up of police, disaster response personnel and administrators.
The casualty rate in the region is almost five times higher than on Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak.
Rescuers need at least three or
