In a tragic turn of events, two climbers recently lost their lives in an avalanche on the treacherous slopes of Mount Manaslu as weather conditions deteriorated. One of the deceased was Indian-origin German climber Dhruva Jyoti Guha, who was accompanied by Nepali Sherpa Fursemba. As the snow storm de-escalated, rescuers hurried and hopped on to their helicopters only to find them buried in snow.
Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest peak, is often the climbers’ dream from September to November as the perilous path becomes less scary with the Autumn setting in. However, the weather up there is never predictable. In a similar incident, when the two climbers decided to go higher in the heart of the mountain, tragedy struck.
As the weather worsened the rest of the group decided to retreat but Dhruva and Fursemba continued their climb to reach camp 3. With the heavy snow coming their way, they couldn’t hold onto their fort against the force of nature and gave in. Later, as rescuers in helicopters went to find them, they only found heaps of snow covering the area. The two bodies were then found beneath nearly seven feet of snow.
As per reports, “A heavy avalanche fell above their tent and both the climbers were buried in the snow”. Mohan Lamsal, managing director of Makalu Adventure describing the incident, in a report said, “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 on Saturday evening”.
Adding more, he described the rescue and said, “We were alerted around 11.30am on Sunday after they stopped responding. We immediately sent four Sherpa climbers to Camp III to look for them. They dug through the snow and found both inside their tent, buried beneath nearly seven feet of snow”.
Standing at 8,163 metres (26,781 feet) above sea level, Mount Manaslu is the eighth-highest mountain in the world. It is located in Nepal’s Gorkha district and is one of the snowy peaks in the Himalayas that have appalled climbers for years. The towering peak lies around 65 km east of the Annapurna range.
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