A foreign climber and his Sherpa guide were found dead inside a tent at the high camp on Mt Manaslu this morning after hundreds of climbers retreated to base camp following adverse weather on the world’s eighth-highest mountain, officials said.
Miles Sherpa who is operating expedtion on manaslu said their senior Pechhumbe Sherpa reported that two climbers from another expedition team have tragically lost their lives at Camp 3 on Manaslu after an avalanche swept through their tent. Then the guides immediately took action, recovered the bodies from the affected tents, and secured them as safely as possible.
An Indian-German climber and his Sherpa guide, who were resting inside a tent at Camp 3, were found dead by other climbers, sources at base camp confirmed. The deceased have been identified as Fursemba Sherpa from Makalu and Dhruba Jyoti Guha from Germany.
Guha and Sherpa, who were inside a tent at Camp 3, were buried by an avalanche last night. “Six other climbers who decided to retreat from Camp 2 are safe, but Guha and Sherpa decided to make an early summit attempt and headed for Camp III last evening,” Lamsal said, quoting fellow climbers talking with the the tourism times.
Mohan Lamsal, managing director at Makalu Adventure
After incident Rescuers from Makalu Adventure immitedalty reached Camp 3 this morning after the two lost communication, Lamsal said. They were found inside a tent covered by nearly 7 feet of fresh snow. “It shows that their tent was buried by a fresh avalanche,” he added.
Efforts are underway to recover their bodies and bring them to base camp, Lamsal shared.
With today’s casualties, Manaslu has recorded four deaths this season. Earlier, Singaporean climber Lau Wee Seng died just below Camp 2, and Tashi Sherpa, a local porter, died in a tent at base camp.
Meanwhile, a few climbers have already headed to the high camp to try to summit Mt Manaslu, as the weather forecast shows a relatively favorable weather window from September 21 to 23, expedition operators said.
According to Chhang Dawa Sherpa Director of seven summmit treks Based on the conditions observed, there appears to be a short weather window over the coming days that may provide a potential opportunity for teams to move toward the higher camps and, if conditions allow, attempt a summit push.
“Weather forecasts indicate the possibility of a significant change in conditions from around September 24, with increased precipitation potentially bringing heavy rain at lower elevations and snowfall in the mountains. This may significantly reduce the possibility of a safe summit attempt afterward”
For now, expedition teams are watching the mountain closely, trying to time their push for whatever window Manaslu is willing to give them.
