Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche

India - Nanda Devi. Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche.

Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche

Last Update

From CNN.com

A search team has spotted five bodies on an unnamed peak in the Indian Himalayas, where the eight climbers were believed to have gone missing a week ago.

Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande said on Monday that the bodies seemed to be partially buried in an avalanche on the peak in different locations.

The analysis of some photographs taken by a helicopter that did an air survey of the area earlier today allowed to identify the bodies.

The operation has stopped by Monday afternoon local time for the day, Jogdande said. Now the authorities are figuring out how to recover the bodies.

On Sunday, helicopter teams saw signs of an avalanche on the peak where the group was thought to have been, according to two state officials. Also, on Monday, a helicopter made a recce of the area and the crew saw a backpack at an elevation of 5,000 meters.

Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche
Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche

Jogdande said that for sure the missing team has been caught by a “huge avalanche” and that the ‘chances of survival are almost zero now.”

The missing climbers — four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and their Indian liaison officer — went missing in the region of Nanda Devi East, one of the highest peaks in India at just over 7,400 meters (24,000 feet.)

According to group’s expedition company Facebook posts, the group was attempting to climb a previously unclimbed and unnamed peak of about 6,477 meters (21,250 feet)

Indian authorities said on Monday that the climbers had no permission to climb an unnamed peak. Jogdande added that if they had known that the eight climbers were planning on climbing the unnamed peak instead of Nanda Devi East, they “would not have given permission.”

He added that heavy rain and high winds in the area have been hampering the search efforts.

More information: CNN.com

From Accuweather and BBC.com

Eight climbers have been missing when climbing Nanda Devi, India’s second tallest mountain at 7,816 meters. The group was supposed to return on May 31, having departed on May 13.

India - Nanda Devi. Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche.
India – Nanda Devi. Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche.

They were guided by British Mountain guide Martin Moran, owner of Scottish Moran Mountain tour company, who is an experienced mountain guide and has run numerous expeditions in the Indian Himalayas.

Search efforts started on Saturday, but bad weather conditions forced them to be called off during the evening hours. There are indications that an avalanche may have swept up the team.

The operation resumed on Sunday morning, with the Indian Air Force deploying two helicopters to aid in the search.

Continue reading “Search efforts continue for 8 climbers missing in the Indian Himalayas, but hopes are fading after possible avalanche”

An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles Rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes

Aiguille Rouges . Photo: AiguilleRouges.blogspot.com- An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.

An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.

A deadly avalanche occurred in the Aiguilles-rouges massif, Haute-Savoie, this Saturday, May 18, 2019. A 33-year-old skier, apparently very experienced, was found dead at 2500 meters altitude.

The Aiguille Rouges seen from Lac Blanc. An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.
The Aiguille Rouges seen from Lac Blanc. An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes.

A skier of high level was killed Saturday, May 18, 2019 in the massif of Aiguilles rouges (Haute-Savoie). It was carried away, it seems, by an avalanche while it came down a corridor “rather steep”, one learned this Sunday near the platoon of gendarmerie of high mountain of Chamonix. He was climbing the North East couloir of Aiguille de Mesure (at 2812 meters) trying to descend the same way when the avalanche occurred. This skier was alone at the time of the avalanche.

The mountain rescue did a preliminary helicopter search and found an ice axe and a ski, before locating the victim, aged 33, partially under the snow 500 meters below at the foot of the needle of Praz-Torrent (2,573 m altitude).

Continue reading “An expert skier killed by an avalanche in the Aiguilles Rouges and a snowboarder died on the Alpes Maritimes”

Avalanche kills two in French Alps near Les 2 Alpes

Col de Sarenne - Clavans-en-Haut-Oisans-France. Photo: Nicolas Outh- Unsplash. What Will Happen to the English Consumers of the French Mountains after March 29?

Avalanche kills two in the French Alps near Les 2 Alpes

From: AP – The Sun Herald and Le Dauphine –

French officials say two have died after an avalanche in the Alps near the Deux-Alpes ski resort.

St Christophe-en-Oisans. Photo: Quentin Lagache- Unsplash. Avalanche kills person in French Alps; another missing.
St Christophe-en-Oisans. Photo: Quentin Lagache- Unsplash. Avalanche kills person in French Alps; another missing.

The police unit in charge of setting up the rescue operation and authorities in the Isere region said the avalanche struck late Tuesday morning.

The avalanche struck in on off-piste sector near the small town of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans.

Update from Le Dauphine:

14 H 05  : The accident occurred outside the landscaped area of ​​Les Deux-Alpes, on an area on the Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans side of La Toura, downstream and south of the Grand Creux breach. (2804 m). Côté Deux-Alpes (on the northern slope), several lifts lead to this sector of off-piste skiing: the chairlifts of Toura and Lac Noir. 

Many rescuers are currently working alongside Civil Safety and FAS helicopters. A dog team from the CRS Alpes, two from the resort of Les Deux Alpes and a dog team from Huez are on site. A dozen police officers from the CRS Alpes, trackers and station staff are involved in the research. 

Meteo France, in its bulletin snow and avalanche, reports for Tuesday of a risk 3 (scored) on a scale of 5.

Continue reading “Avalanche kills two in French Alps near Les 2 Alpes”

Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak in Taos

Photo: Taos Ski Resort. Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.

Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak in Taos

TSV: Two skiers extracted, ‘no additional victims’

From Taos News

Two skiers were critically injured in an avalanche on Thursday (Jan. 17) near Kachina Peak, the highest point at Taos Ski Valley ski resort.

According to a press release from the resort, an “inbounds avalanche” occurred in chute three on Kachina Peak just before noon, burying two men, who have not yet been identified.

Rescuers searching the snow extracted the men just before 1 p.m. and performed CPR on them before rushing them to the base of the resort.

Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.
Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.

According to a report heard on Taos Central Dispatch before 3 p.m., a medic transporting one of the men in an ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital in Taos said she had “one male trauma patient,” for whom she had established an IV and an intubator, a medical device that helps a person breath when they are unconscious.

Taos County Emergency Services Chief Chris Medina said the other man was also in critical condition and was being flown by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

According to a press release from the ski resort, the search for others who might have been buried was called off after 2 p.m., when rescuers determined there to be “no additional victims.”

Continue reading “Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak in Taos”

Three German Skiers got killed in an Avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, fourth is missing

Lech Zürs am Arlberg photo by Sepp Mallaun. Lech Zürs Tourismus GmbH. Three German Skiers got killed in an Avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, fourth is missing.

Three German Skiers got killed in an avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, the fourth skier is missing. The group was ski touring at the time.

The dead men were from the Upper Swabia area of southwestern Germany. They were found around 11 PM local time after one of their wives alerted that they were missing. They were aged 57, 36 and 32. The fourth missing person, also from southern Germany was 28.

Three German Skiers got killed in an Avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, fourth is missing. Photo: Reuters.
Three German Skiers got killed in an Avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, fourth is missing. Photo: Reuters.

The search for this fourth person has halted due to heavy avalanche risk.

Police in the Vorarlberg province has said they have located the people through mobile phone tracking near the Lanzeg Zug slope – one of the steepest in the world.

As per the Associated Press, weather-related deaths in parts of Europe this month account to at least 24.

Austria has been hit by large snowfalls this past week, and the avalanche warning levels have gone up while local roads have been cut. The warning level above 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) was on Saturday on a scale of 3 of 5. The slope has been closed due to avalanche danger.

Continue reading “Three German Skiers got killed in an Avalanche near the Austrian resort of Lech, fourth is missing”