Specialist team deployed to Yalung Ri to search for missing climbers
Led by veteran guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa, a four-member recovery team equipped with advanced RECCO detection technology heads into Dolakha’s remote Rolwaling region to locate five missing foreign climbers amid treacherous alpine conditions.
PC: NNMGA
A dedicated search and recovery team has been deployed to Mount Yalung Ri (5,630 metres) in Dolakha district to locate climbers missing after a deadly avalanche earlier this week, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) said on Wednesday.
The four-member team, all highly skilled and experienced in locating bodies buried under snow, is led by IFMGA/NNMGA mountain guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa and includes Pasang Kidar Sherpa, Chhiring Sonam Lama, and Pasang Temba Sherpa. The team has been equipped with advanced rescue tools, including a RECCO detector, to assist in locating those still buried under the snow in the remote Rolwaling region.
The RECCO detector is a radar-based search device used in avalanche rescue operations. It emits directional radar signals that bounce back from RECCO reflectors , small transponders often embedded in climbers’ clothing or gear, allowing rescuers to pinpoint buried victims quickly and with high accuracy even under deep snow or debris.
The NNMGA said the rescuers face extremely challenging alpine conditions and extended its “heartfelt wishes for their safe, swift, and successful mission.”
At least two Nepali mountain guides, Padam Tamang and Mere Karki, were confirmed dead, while five foreign climbers remain missing and feared dead after the avalanche struck Yalung Ri on Monday morning. The missing include two Italians, one German, one Canadian, and one French climber, according to the Dolakha District Administration Office.
Authorities said eight injured climbers, including Nepali and foreign nationals, were rescued by helicopter and flown to Kathmandu for treatment.
Mingma Sherpa, operator of Seven Summit Treks and Everest Heli, said the new rescue team is already en route to the affected site and will continue the search operation. A joint team of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force has also been conducting search efforts since reaching the site on Tuesday afternoon, supporting expedition agencies that have been engaged in rescue work since the first day.
The avalanche struck as multiple expedition groups, including teams from Yatri Treks, Dreamers’ Destination Treks and Himalayan Treks, were making summit pushes on Yalung Ri in the Rolwaling region, around two days’ walk from the nearest motorable road.
The Yalung Ri tragedy follows a series of recent climbing accidents on smaller Himalayan peaks, including Panpari, where two Italian climbers died last week, and Himlung, where an Australian climber perished after delayed rescue efforts due to bad weather.
