Kami Rita Sherpa Archive - Adventure Mountain

It took my breath away when I saw the pictures from Thame on the Internet today. The village lies at around 3800 metres in the Khumbu area, the region around Mount Everest. Masses of mud and water rolled through the village, which I visited in 2002 and 2019. According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, around half of the village was severely damaged, especially the lower-lying areas. A school, a medical centre, seven houses and five lodges were swept away. Most of the houses were reportedly uninhabitable. At least one person is missing.

A stroke of luck: the water and mudslides hit the village in daylight. Most of the inhabitants were apparently able to reach safety in higher areas. The Gompa of Thame, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in the Khumbu, is located well above the village and is likely to have been spared from the disaster.

Nepalese side of Mount Everest (seen from Kala Patthar in 2002)

The many success stories from Mount Everest are intermingled with the sad news of two missing climbers on the highest mountain on earth. The newspaper “Himalayan Times” reports that a British and a Nepalese mountaineer fell yesterday, Tuesday, while descending from the summit at the height of the former Hillary Step (8,790 meters). There has been no trace of them since then. The chances of finding them alive are dwindling by the minute.

If the two are declared dead, it would be the third and fourth deaths on Mount Everest this season. Last week, two Mongolian climbers passed away on the descent. In addition, a Romanian climber who wanted to climb the neighboring eight-thousander Lhotse without bottled oxygen also died yesterday in Camp 3 at around 7,300 meters.