Posted on 10/24/2005 9:40:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
KATHMANDU (AFP) - Seven French climbers and 11 Nepalese mountain guides were killed in a massive avalanche last week in the northwest of Nepal, the head of the Himalayan Rescue Association said.
"All the team members of the French Mount Kangaru expedition have died," Bikram Neupane, president of the Himalayan Rescue Association, told reporters Monday in the capital after he visited the site and talked to rescue teams.
The private association sent a 10-member rescue team to find survivors of the October 20 avalanche, Neupane said. The lead rescuer, Padam Ghale, told him that the snow depth precluded finding anyone alive.
"Because there was so much snow, it was impossible to find anyone," Neupane said. "Even the army couldn't find anything looking by helicopter."
The team was hit by the avalanche at a 5,000-metre (16,400 foot) base camp near the Anapurna Mountain range as they attempted an ascent of the 6,981-metre (22,987 foot) Mount Kangaru.
A tourism official, who declined to be named, said Sherpas travelling with the missing climbers and trekkers reported a massive avalanche that they survived because they were camped at a lower elevation.
"Until the afternoon of October 20, the weather condition was cloudy with mild winds but it suddenly deteriorated leading to a heavy snowstorm triggering a massive avalanche which had trapped all the five tents pitched at a high altitude basecamp" he said.
Television reports said the four porters who survived were rescued by helicopters on Sunday when searchers took advantage of clearer weather on Kangaru, a minor but technically difficult mountain.
Speaking from Pokhara one of the rescued porters, Lhakpa Tshering Lama, told television stations they escaped because they were outside the tents when the snowstorm hit.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy had warned earlier Monday it was highly unlikely that any of seven French climbers would be found alive.
"The rescue mission sent yesterday (Sunday) to try to locate the team on the slopes of Mount Kangaru told our embassy this morning that, given the characteristics of the avalanche that hit the seven French climbers and their Nepalese guides, the chances of finding any survivors are unfortunately very slim," Douste-Blazy told reporters in Paris.
The French climbers were led by Daniel Stolzenberg, 60.
Bishwa Raj Dhital of Churen Treks and Expeditions, the organizing agency of the Kangaru expedition, earlier said 10 Nepalese Sherpas -- experts in the mountains -- had joined the search for the missing climbers.
"The rescue team this morning informed us that they have recovered some mountain gear including utensils and tents but not a single body has yet been found," said Dhital.
Climbers use a narrow window between the end of the monsoon rains in September and the onset of winter to scale mountains in Nepal, which has eight of the world's highest peaks including the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) Mount Everest.
Handout picture from Expes.com shows the Kangaru mountain's summit where seven French climbers and 11 Nepalese mountain guides were killed in a massive avalanche 20 October 2005 in the northwest of Nepal, Bikram Neupane, the head of the Himalayan Rescue Association said.(AFP/HO)
In this photo released by the Himalayan Rescue Association, Rescuers search for the missing French mountaineering team at Manang, Nepal, Monday, Oct. 24, 2005. Two experienced Sherpa mountaineers were to join the search Monday for seven French climbers and seven Nepalese Sherpa guides missing since heavy snowfall hit the Himalayas last week. (AP Photo/ Himalayan Rescue Association, HO)
Mountain tragedy ping!
A view of the Kanchenjunga mountain along the Himalayan mountain range on the frontier between Nepal and Sikkim is seen March 14, 2005. Rescue workers said on Monday there was no hope of finding seven French and 11 Nepali climbers missing after an avalanche in western Nepal last week. (Desmond Boylan/Reuters)
Condolences to all the families who lost loved ones who challenged a mountain and lost their lives pursuing their passion.
Why are they camping in an avalanche area?
Why are they camping in an avalanche area?
Very sad, even if they were excercizing their right to risky behavior.
Was in Zion Canyon today, and saw several climbers up on faces.
They take 3 days to get to the top, sleeping suspended in a hammock like sling.
Ultimate sport.
Southern Utah looks like a very prosperous place. A ton of building going on.
Because it's there.
This is tragic. :(
"Why are they camping in an avalanche area?"
Well, the entire region is treacherous and unpredictable, and the climbers know it. Then, again, that probably drives them. No fun if it was a child's play.
A remark first made by George Mallory when asked, "Why climb Everest?"
Or one of these...
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