A retired Air Force rocket engineer has been left heartbroken after his mountaineer girlfriend died in an avalanche on one of the world's highest peaks. Dave Ashley, 51, says he did all he could to save his partner Shelley Johannesen, 53, when their attempt to summit Mount Makalu in the Himalayas on May 11 went horribly wrong, and she tragically died in his arms on the mountain.
The pair met in 2023 after each got divorced, and they threw themselves into a whirlwind mid-life romance and their shared passion for mountaineering. Together, they climbed some of the world's toughest mountains, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Ecuador’s Chimborazo, and several peaks in Nepal's Himalayas. Ashley, who had previously summited Everest without Johannesen, founded his own hiking expedition company, DASH Adventures, in 2023, which he used to facilitate their love for the outdoors.
But Ashley said their dream trip to summit Makalu last month turned into a nightmare when Johannesen and her sherpa were knocked down the peak by a loose slab of ice following an avalanche. Their climbing group was battered by 60mph icy winds, and Ashley trekked for two hours down the mountain to find Johannesen severely injured and just 10 feet from a sheer cliff edge. He told the Salt Lake Tribune he unfurled a sleeping bag and wrapped it around himself and Johannesen to shield them from the elements while they waited for help, as she slowly lost consciousness and eventually died hours later.
Ashley said his sherpa warned him to leave Johannesen to get help or risk dying himself, but he repeatedly replied, 'I can't leave Shelley... I can't leave Shelley.' He has been left devastated by her death at 23,400 feet, writing in a Facebook post that the experience has been 'utterly soul crushing.' He shared a picture of himself weeping as he worked to collect her ashes in Kathmandu and return them to their home in Utah.
Johannesen's tragic death ended her mountaineering career abruptly. Ashley said she was a later-life passion that she was immediately talented at. 'If she had found climbing earlier in life, she probably would have been a pretty renowned high-elevation climber,' he said. Her friend Beth Downing added, 'She had a lot left to live. But she also really lived what she had. Especially in the last 10 years or so, since she had chosen a life that prioritized adventure.'
Ashley and Johannesen fell madly in love after their divorces and became obsessed with mountaineering, summiting many high peaks together and sharing their lust for life on social media. She helped him with his post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms from his time as an Air Force rocket engineer, calling herself his service dog for her ability to calm him. But nothing could prepare them for the treacherous conditions on Mount Makalu.
During their two-day descent, they planned to go from Camp III to Camp II to recover from high altitude, but a severe storm halted their progress. Heavy snowfall forced them to spend the night of May 10 at Camp III, and despite low oxygen, nobody felt in serious danger. 'We were told, ‘Hey, the winds are going to be a little higher,’ but nobody thought to stay a third night,' Ashley said. 'Makalu just does not have avalanches.' He recalled Johannesen and her sherpa were tied to a guide rope when a slab of ice dislodged and slammed into them, knocking out the rope and sending them tumbling down the mountain.
Ashley found them 10 feet from a cliff edge, severely injured. Her guide, Tawa Sherpa, suffered a broken back, while Johannesen couldn't stand. At 23,400 feet, a helicopter rescue was impossible, and they waited hours for help. One rescue party turned around due to the storm, and Ashley lost several fingers and a toe to frostbite as he protected her. Eventually, Johannesen lost consciousness and died in his arms. Ashley said they knew the risks: 'You climb enough mountains like this, you know. We had talked, and we were like, ‘If we go, that’s OK. We’re choosing this life.’'
After making his own way down, Ashley has returned to Utah, still in shock and grieving. He does not plan to give up mountaineering, saying Johannesen's death reminds him to live life fully. 'Love with your whole heart,' he said, 'because you just don’t know.'
