There’s shocking news from Hong Sung-Taek’s expedition to the South Face of Lhotse. An avalanche has swept away one of the Nepali rope fixers near Camp 1. The victim was Khudam Bir Tamang, outfitter Seven Summit Treks told The Himalayan Times.
Tamang was on his way back from a higher camp when an avalanche hit him at roughly 6,000m. Pasang Rinzee Sherpa was also there and escaped by just a few metres, journalist Alessandro Filippini reported. Filippini also noted that Simone Moro, working this spring season as a helicopter pilot, will conduct the aerial search. Coincidentally, Moro knows Pasang Rinzee well: They attempted Manaslu together last winter.
Moro has uploaded a video describing the avalanche location and the ongoing search:
Tamang and Rinzee were part of a strong Sherpa team working with Korean climber Hong Sung-Taek. Sung-Taek is on his seventh attempt at Lhotse’s huge South Face, one of the biggest in the world. Sung-Taek is climbing with some international climbers, such as Jorge Egocheaga and Vadim Druelle, but he is counting on a strong Nepali team, led by Pechhumbe Sherpa, to fix the route. So far, they had fixed ropes up to Camp 2.
