There is confirmation of terrible news from Nepal, where seven members of the Dreamers Destination Expedition to Dolma Khang have lost their lives while acclimatizing on Yalung Ri. Meanwhile, rescuers found the bodies of two Italians missing on Panbari in Camp 1, buried by snow.
The shocking death toll calls for authorities and guiding companies to reexamine safety protocols for trekking peaks.
Recovery on Pambari
A team of local rescuers climbed Pambari earlier today and found the lifeless bodies of Farronato Stefano Farronato, 51, and Alessandro Caputo, 28, in Camp 1. The climbers had sent their last message from there, contacting the third member of their team, Vatler Perlino, who was in Base Camp. High winds and heavy snowfall from Cyclone Montha had trapped Farronato and Caputo on October 27, and they were unable to return to Base Camp in the whiteout.
Perlino was airlifted from Base Camp on Sunday. Yet, just 24 hours later, he joined Nepalese guides Narendra Shahi, Pasang Kaji Sherpa, and Kusang Sherpa on a rescue mission back up the mountain.
Totally buried
Perlino provided Nepalese rescuers with the GPS coordinates of Camp 1. However, when they reached the coordinates, there was no trace of the climbers. Using a Recco detector, they then located the buried bodies.
“After three and a half hours digging, we located the tent and continued excavating until we recovered the bodies,” Narendra Shahi told the Everest Chronicle.
Recco detectors are included in many mountain and freeride skiing clothes, and they can reflect the signal emitted by a specific transponder. They are now mandatory for Everest climbers, but there is no such regulation for lesser peaks. You can learn how they work in the video below:
Yalung Ri avalanche
An avalanche struck many people on Yalung Ri yesterday. Eventually, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism said that seven people were dead, but there was no confirmation of their identities or the expedition company outfitting any of the victims.
We were aware of one team outfitted by Dreamers Destination, headed by multi-Everest summiter Phurba Tenzing Sherpa, but the number of casualties announced was not consistent with the expedition’s composition. Dreamers Destination didn’t reply to our questions, but they eventually talked to local media. Phurba Tenzing Sherpa told the Everest Chronicle that there were three groups of trekkers and climbers from different expedition companies in the area when the avalanche struck. For that reason, he did not know how many people could be missing.
Casualties confirmed
Images shared today by The Tourism Times show that a massive avalanche swept the lower part of the mountain, and apparently, some tents:
The avalanche aftermath on Yalung Ri. Photo: The Tourism Times
Updated news confirms the names and nationalities of the victims. This information contradicts some previous reports.
Casualties in the Dreamers Destination team are photographer Paolo Cocco of Italy, Marco Di Marcello (a mountain guide with Italian and Canadian nationality), and Nepalese guide Padam Tamang. Expedition leader Phurba Tsering Sherpa told The Tourism Times that a massive avalanche hit them just below the summit, at around 9:30 am yesterday.
Bhuwan Bharati, Managing Director of Wilderness Outdoors, told The Tourism Times that three members of their team also perished in the avalanche: Jakob Schreiber from Germany, Markus Kirchler from Italy, and their climbing guide, Mere Karki of Nepal.
“They changed their initial plan to climb Pachermo (6,279m) due to adverse weather last week and headed for Yalung Ri peak,” Bharati said.
French trekker Christian Andre Manfredi, 69, of France also perished in the avalanche. He was outfitted by a third company: Yatri Trekking.
Injured climbers
There are five confirmed injured climbers: Lakpa Tamang and Sun Bahadur Gurung, members of the Yatri trekking team, and two French nationals whose travel agent was not shared: Isbelle Solange Thaon and Didier Arman Berton. The climbing leader from the Dreamers Destination team, Nima Gyalzen Sherpa, was also injured. Rescue services airlifted all of them to hospitals in Kathmandu for treatment.
Phurba Tenzing Sherpa also told The Tourism Times of other evacuations from Rolwaling this morning, including Chhulthim Dolma Gurung, Raj Gurung, and Kaji Sherpa of Nepal, as well as Carole Fuchs from France. Helicopters airlifted all of them to Kathmandu with no serious injuries.
Preventable tragedies?
We are waiting for a complete report about the circumstances of the avalanche on Yalung Ri and the conditions on the mountain. Cyclone Montha wrapped Nepal’s mountains in heavy snow for over five days in a row, so conditions were surely complex.
The cyclonic system was expected, with weather forecasts warning of bad weather days in advance. Climbers should have been down from the mountains by the time it hit on October 27. Yet, the storm caught several groups on peaks and high passes, including the Italian climbers of Pambari. A guided climber died on Mera Peak after he got sick high on the mountain and bad weather grounded helicopters. Hundreds needed rescue or help to get to lower areas.
Trekkers in the snowy Annapurna region last week. Photo: 24 Ghanta Nepal
The Nepal tourism industry will need to debate how to improve safety protocols, not only on the 8,000’ers, but also on trekking peaks where visitors may not be as equipped or informed about upcoming weather conditions. Guided groups depend on their leaders to assess conditions and keep them safe on mountains that, even on straightforward routes, might be over 5,000m.
Notably, Czech climbers Marek Holecek and Radoslaw Groh — alpinists with a highly difficult goal, the south face of Cho Oyu — retreated down the Khumbu Valley when the storm struck. Today, they returned to their Advanced Base Camp at the foot of Cho Oyu to find their tent and equipment completely buried by snow.
