The original version of this article first appeared on ExplorersWeb.
Over the weekend, a violent blizzard hit the Himalayas in Nepal and Tibet. It caused serious disruptions on roads, and hundreds of tourists are still stranded on the Tibetan side of Everest. (They’re not climbing Everest, as some news stories seem to suggest, but are just blocked by a snowbound road.)
However, some of those on other mountains were hard hit. A Korean man has died on Mera Peak, a 6,476m trekking mountain in Nepal.
One Dead, Another Missing
The Nepal National Mountain Guides Association (NNMGA) confirms that Tejung Park, 46, of South Korea, has perished on Mera Peak. He was one of several climbers reported missing on this popular trekking peak over the weekend. A search party found his body today and rescued Park’s guide, Temba Sherpa.
There are no details about the cause of death, but Gurla Mandata Trekking quoted the NNMGA as saying that at least one more climber remains missing.
Himalaya Blizzard Developed Rapidly
The storm developed rapidly and hit on Saturday. It affected large areas of Nepal, including Kathmandu, where all domestic flights were cancelled. At the same time, a fierce snowstorm with high winds struck the mountains, dumping huge amounts of snow in the Khumbu Valley and closing roads.
The video below by Lucien Bocansaud of France shows conditions in Chukhung village:
Andrew Marin and Anna Pfaff of the U.S., also in Chukhung, had a mini-avalanche fall from the roof of their lodge this morning, blocking the door and spilling into the interior.
Tourists Evacuated in Tibet
The storm also caused road disruptions in the Tibetan Himalaya. Mainstream media have posted some alarming headlines reporting 1,000 climbers stranded on the North Side of Everest. In fact, those affected by the storm were not climbers but tourists visiting Everest Base Camp by road and trekkers hiking in Tibet. Some 350 poorly equipped hikers were evacuated to the township of Qudang, outside Tingri.
The weekend blizzard also affected wide areas of northwest China. Today, 137 hikers were evacuated from the mountains in the Qinghai region, Xinhua news reports. Qinghai lies in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, and the stranded hikers were in the Laohugou Mountains, with peaks surpassing 4,000 m.
Chinese citizens are currently enjoying the 8-day holiday (October 1-8) known as the Golden Week, which draws large numbers of tourists to the areas of the country. Local rescuers using horses and drones to locate the hikers carried out the evacuations.
8,000-Meter Teams Safe
Forecasts alerted climbers on the 8,000m peaks in time, and they either retreated to base camp or further down the valley.
Cho Oyu teams, for example, are doing well. The Madison Mountaineering group retreated to Tingri before the storm, and they are comfortably waiting for conditions to improve. Jon Gupta, who is guiding for Adventure Consultants, reported from Advanced Base Camp that all is well.
“The snowstorm was wild, but all is good, and the sun is out now,” he told ExplorersWeb earlier today.
“The Adventure Consultants team (three clients, Rob Smith with two clients and Gupta with one, plus five Sherpa climbers) sat it out at Advanced Base Camp,” Gupta reported. “It was pretty wild but actually OK. A lot of snow fell with some medium winds, but not too much.”
Gupta explained that the fresh snow may be over 1 m deep in places due to drift, but Advanced Base Camp has about 60cm of new snow. “There was constant digging out of tents for about 36 hours,” he said.
The Dhaulagiri and Makalu expeditions, as well as the lonely Russian team, are also safely in Base Camp. Artem Tsentsevitsky of the Makalu expedition reported that the sky cleared last night in time for them to see the full moon.
Himalaya Blizzard: ‘Hard Work’ Ahead
Conditions have now improved, with domestic flights rescheduled and roads reopening. Climbers will need to reassess the situation on the mountain routes.
“I can see there’s plenty of new snow around Camp 2 and Camp 3, and I expect the old ropes to be buried, so there could be some hard work to do,” Jon Gupta said.
“The weather forecast is now very good, except strong winds are due to put the summit out of bounds until at least October 12, so we have time to rest, make a plan, and see what’s what up there.”
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