The international mountaineering community is mourning another devastating loss in the Himalayas following a catastrophic avalanche that struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal. The disaster, which unfolded on September 26, has claimed the lives of 16 mountain workers, making it one of the deadliest climbing incidents in the region in recent years. The catastrophe follows an intense tropical cyclone that swept across the country, dumping massive amounts of snow and paralyzing mountaineering expeditions throughout the high peaks.
According to reports gathered by Outside contributor Ben Ayers—who has lived in Nepal for over two decades and oversees the publication’s Mount Everest coverage—the avalanche hit the 23,379-foot peak’s Base Camp, situated at roughly 16,000 feet on the eastern side of the mountain, during the height of the storm. The cascading wall of snow entirely enveloped sleeping tents and communal areas, burying the camp beneath a staggering 14 to 15 feet of packed snow and debris.
Emergency volunteer rescue workers, organized by the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association (NNMGA), rushed to the remote site to search for survivors. Despite digging through deep, unstable deposits of snow, rescue teams recovered only four bodies. Twelve additional people remained unaccounted for as days passed, prompting a grim assessment of the situation on the ground.
On September 29, the NNMGA announced that it was officially calling off the active search for the remaining 12 missing individuals, citing extreme hazards and severe logistical limitations.
"With only eight people on scene, our manpower wasn’t enough to continue the search," Tul Singh Gurung, president of the NNMGA, told Outside. "The snow was 14 or 15 feet deep, which made the search extremely difficult."
Gurung emphasized that the physical dangers at the foot of the peak ultimately forced the difficult decision to halt operations. "Finding four bodies confirmed that we wouldn’t find any survivors," he added. "So we decided to postpone the search until later."
The confirmed and presumed death toll of 16 individuals places the Himlung Himal disaster alongside other historic tragedies in Himalayan mountaineering. In 2014, an ice avalanche claimed the lives of 16 Nepali workers on Mount Everest, while a massive slab avalanche on Draupadi Ka Danda II in India’s Himalayas killed 29 people in 2022.
The search and rescue effort at Himlung Himal was spearheaded by veteran guide Mingma G, whose guiding company, Imagine Nepal, had two employees reported missing in the avalanche. The remaining 14 victims were working for the outfitting firm Himalayan Holidays.
"We had rushed up in the hope of finding survivors, but we had no luck," Mingma G wrote in a social media update on September 28. "The avalanche was enormous—no one had believed that Himlung Base Camp could experience something of that scale."
Where Is Himlung Himal?
Within Nepal’s thriving mountaineering industry, Himlung Himal holds a prominent position as one of the country’s most popular 7,000-meter peaks. Commercial guiding companies routinely schedule expeditions to the mountain during the prime climbing windows of October and November. Because of its technical profile, aspiring mountaineers frequently use Himlung Himal as a crucial stepping-stone ascent to test their capabilities before attempting Mount Everest or other formidable peaks soaring above 8,000 meters, or roughly 26,000 feet.
Outfitting companies generally categorize the climb as a moderate-to-difficult ascent. The route requires navigating complex glacier travel, traversing steep slopes of snow, and utilizing fixed ropes. Despite the technical challenges, the mountain is widely regarded as a scenic and rewarding objective.
"This isolated tranquil peak is a perfect blend of beauty, adventure, and learning experience for aspiring mountaineers," Nepali guiding firm 8K Expeditions notes on its official website.
Similarly, Imagine Nepal highlights the mountain’s accessibility for intermediate climbers seeking high-altitude experience. "Climbers will need climbing boots and crampons from Camp II and above," the firm explains on its site. "Climbing from Camp II to the summit is suitable for anyone who wishes to experience the 7,000-meter altitude range and is suitable for climbers of all grades."
A Cyclone Blankets the Himalayas in Deadly Snowfall
The catastrophic avalanche at Himlung Himal did not occur in a vacuum; it was the direct consequence of a severe tropical cyclone that battered Nepal with relentless rain and heavy snowfall for three consecutive days. Climbers who were forced to hunker down and wait out the severe weather at the Base Camp of 26,795-foot Dhaulagiri—located roughly 50 miles west of Himlung—reported to Outside that the storm dumped nearly seven feet of snow at their elevation, with significantly greater accumulations piling up on the higher reaches of the mountain.
Earlier, as weather forecasts signaled the approach of the tempest, expedition operators took preventative action on 26,781-foot Manaslu, calling off the peak’s record-setting climbing season. Operators successfully evacuated more than 490 paying clients along with hundreds of mountain support workers before the worst of the snowfall blanketed the area.
According to Gurung, several mountain workers stationed at the Himlung Base Camp recognized the escalating danger and attempted to flee the area as the storm intensified, well before the avalanche struck. Tragically, the heavy, rapidly accumulating snow blocked their escape routes, forcing them to turn back to the vulnerable camp.
The Latest Deadly Avalanche of 2026
This latest disaster compounds what has already proven to be an exceptionally hazardous three-month period for the global mountaineering and adventure tourism community. In late July, an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan claimed the lives of ten climbers, including renowned celebrity guide Nirmal "Nims" Purja.
Shortly thereafter, in August, catastrophic flash flooding surged along Nepal’s Bhote Khosi and Trishuli Rivers, resulting in the deaths of 1,400 people while leaving another 6,000 missing. A significant portion of those impacted were workers directly tied to the nation’s tourism and trekking industries. The compounding tragedies continued into mid-September, when four individuals died on Manaslu, including two victims killed by another avalanche.
Gurung expressed deep concern that the string of disasters will deal a severe blow to Nepal’s struggling tourism sector. To mitigate risks and protect lives moving forward, he strongly advises future clients to prioritize experience and safety over cost when selecting expedition services.
"Mountaineering is inherently high risk at every step," Gurung said. "The most important thing climbers can do is to hire experienced, qualified manpower, even if it costs more. This is very important. The mountains will always be there, but if we make poor decisions, our lives won’t."
