SOLUKHUMBU, MAY 9

Climbing guides Pasang Rinji Sherpa and Khudam Bir Tamang were on their way to the Lhotse base camp from a higher camp on Sunday evening when a huge avalanche struck the rarely used route.

Khudam was buried under the avalanche in front of Pasang's eyes when they were crossing a crevasse using a ladder at a height of around 6,000m, just below Camp I of the Lhotse South Face.

'It was a nightmarish experience. I was five to six metres behind Khudam when the avalanche struck. A cloud of ice blanketed the area and I had fainted for over 10 minutes. I consider myself fortunate to have survived. It is like a second lease of life,' Pasang told THT over phone after returning from Camp 1. Other climbers came from the base camp and Camp I to carry out search in the area, he added.

Expedition organiser said the likelihood of finding Khudam were diminishing as the searches carried out so far had concluded without substantial progress.

Khudam was part the eight-member expedition led by renowned Korean climber Sung-Taek Hong, according to Mingma Sherpa, the chairman of Seven Summit Treks that had organised the expedition.

Hong is making seventh attempt to climb the Lhotse South Face, one of the toughest climbs in the world, this season.

Seven Summit Treks had sent a helicopter to expedite the search, besides conducting ground searches, but to no avail, Sherpa told THT.

Rescuers spotted big crevasses in the area, he added.

Pasang was airlifted this afternoon from Camp I and sent to Kathmandu, where he will undergo check-up at a hospital, Sherpa added.

This season, two climbers, including a foreigner, have already died in the Everest region.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 10, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.