Two climbers go missing in Annapurna avalanche
Aerial search late into the evening hours yielded no results; a helicopter will be dispatched early tomorrow morning to continue the operation.
Photo: Mingma G
Two Nepali climbing guides have gone missing in an avalanche on Mount Annapurna (8,091m), said officials at the Department of Tourism (DoT).
The incident occurred on Monday morning below the Camp III. The avalanche occurred when most of the climbers were above the Camp III. “Initially, there were reports of missing of a foreigner, who was found after some time,” said Liladhar Awasthi at the DoT.
The missing climbers have been identified as Ngima Tashi Sherpa and Rima Rinje, both hailing from the Solukhumbu district, the home of many accomplished Sherpa mountaineers.
Ngima Tashi is an accomplished climber and high-altitude rescuer. In 2023, he along with Gelje Sherpa rescued a Malaysian climber from Balcony (8,400m). Nima Tashi carried the unconscious climber on his back from the death zone down to South Col.
The duo wrapped the climber in a sleeping mat and dragged him on the snow and carried the body whenever it could not be hauled against rocks on the route.
On November last year, Ngima Tashi along with his sibling Fura Tshering scaled the Yasa Thak peak (6,141m), an unclimbed peak in Rolwaling range.
The government record shows 66 climbers from six expedition teams have obtained climbing permit for the world’s 10th highest peak.
The rope fixing team of Sherpa climbers successfully opened the route to the summit of the peak on Sunday.
The Annapurna is notorious for its steep and unstable slopes, making it prone to avalanches. It is known as the deadliest mountain to climb with fatal rate of round 32 percent.
In 2023, Anurag Maloo, an Indian climber fell into crevasse and was rescued alive after three days. Two Pakistani climbers Naila Kiani and Shehroz Kashif and another Indian climber Baljit Kaur were also successfully rescued alive from Camp IV after one day.
