Gorgeous pass becomes a graveyard

Thousands of foreigners come to Nepal in October with one goal — to cross a mountain pass in a gruelling three-week adventure in the Himalayas. This week, one of most gorgeous passes in Nepal turned into a graveyard, claiming the lives of more than two dozen trekkers from several countries.

For decades, October has been the best month to trek along the Annapurna Circuit, one of the most popular mountain trails in Nepal and one that requires crossing the Thorung La Pass at an altitude of 5,416 metres.

On Tuesday, a snowstorm hit several points along the circuit, killing trekkers and porters who were crossing the pass. Dozens are still missing in what’s become one of the deadliest Himalayan incidents in a country that is still recovering from the tragedy of an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas last spring on Mount Everest.

Although trekking the Annapurna Circuit to cross the Thorung La Pass may not be as gruelling an adventure as climbing Everest, it is certainly not easy or without risks. Most people who attempt the pass do not require training, but the potential for acute altitude sickness remains, and it has killed both foreigners and locals.

However, the deaths of so many trekkers on this route was unprecedented, as October is not generally known for severe weather that would create dangerous conditions. The weather and the trail along the Annapurna Circuit were clear with very little snow until Saturday. But a cyclone that made landfall in India on Sunday changed things overnight. By that time, hundreds of trekkers were already high up in the mountains, with very limited or almost no access to telephones or news to monitor weather reports.

Based on the latest report out of Kathmandu, 85 of the 345 trekkers who registered at a checkpoint Monday en route to the two closest camps before the pass — Yak Kharka and Thorung Phedi — had not made it to the other side. About 100 trekkers were said to have left the final base camp, which provides food and accommodation the night before trekkers begin a sharp, three-hour ascent of about 700 meters to cross the pass.

“We rescued 67 trekkers today, of which 45 were foreigners,” said Devendra Lamichhane, chief district officer in Manang, on Thursday. Many trekkers who had already crossed the pass are still said to be missing.

On Friday, the Nepalese army rescued 39 more people who were stranded near the pass after the blizzard.