Avalanche Kills 9 Mountaineers On Mount Gurja In Nepal

October 14, 2018

Mount Gurja, Nepal – On Friday, October 12, 2018 nine mountaineers were killed in an violent storm that was followed by an avalanche blast on 7,913-meter Mount Gurja next to Dhaulagiri in the Annapurna region of Nepal. The victims included 5 South Korean climbers and 4 Nepali Sherpas.

The accident occurred either late Thursday or Friday while the group was waiting for weather to improve before they climbed higher. Rescuers were alerted to the accident after the team had not been in contact for 24 hours.

The mountaineers were at a camp around 3,500 meters when the incident occurred. Some reports state that the mountaineers were killed in a storm, but DailyStar.com.lb states “rescuers say it most likely caused by the powerful downblast from an avalanche not a storm. It seems that seracs [glacial ice] and snow fell from high on the mountain and the strong gusts of winds from that hit the campsite, throwing the climbers off,” said rescuer Suraj Paudyal who reached the site Sunday.”

Rescuers recovered the victims on Sunday. The bodies were taken to Pokhara and then on to Kathmandu. According to ExplorersWeb.com, the victims included Chhiring Bhote, Lakpa Sangbu Bhote, Natra Bahadur Chantel, and Phurbu Bhote (all Nepal), Lee Jaehun, Rim Il-jin, Yoo Youngjik, Jeong Joon-mo and Kim Chang-ho (all Korea).

One of the deceased climbers was Kim Chang-ho, the 1st Korean to climb all of the world’s 8000-meter peaks without oxygen. He was also the fastest person to complete that feat. He did it in 7 years, 1 months, and 6 days (ExplorersWeb.com).

According to DailyStar.com.lb, the last successful summit of Mount Gurja was recorded in 1996. Only 30 people have ever reached its summit.

We will try to update this post when more information is available.

Read more about the tragic accident on Mount Gurja in Nepal from the following sources: