IMG Update: Avalanche and Rescue Effort in Khumbu Icefall

May 7, 2009 – Today started out pretty normal, with the first team making a timely departure and climbing the Icefall in good form. Later, Rejean was descending the Icefall with Dawa, his sherpa, and three of our IMG sherpas who had already carried to C2 and were on the way back down to BC (Mingma Tenzing #2, Thunang, and Karma Dorje). The five of them made good time back down the Icefall until about 10 am when a huge ice avalanche swept down the lower Icefall from the West Shoulder and blasted them. Immediately afterwards they radioed to us that they were all OK.

Only later, when they all returned to camp, did we get the whole story. [More at IMG]

Editor’s note: It is a sad day for all those involved at Everest and our sympathies go out to the family of the missing sherpa.

May 7, 2009 – Today started out pretty normal, with the first team making a timely departure and climbing the Icefall in good form. Later, Rejean was descending the Icefall with Dawa, his sherpa, and three of our IMG sherpas who had already carried to C2 and were on the way back down to BC (Mingma Tenzing #2, Thunang, and Karma Dorje). The five of them made good time back down the Icefall until about 10 am when a huge ice avalanche swept down the lower Icefall from the West Shoulder and blasted them. Immediately afterwards they radioed to us that they were all OK.

Only later, when they all returned to camp, did we get the whole story. [More at IMG]

Editor’s note: It is a sad day for all those involved at Everest and our sympathies go out to the family of the missing sherpa.