A workforce organized by Nirmal (‘Nims’) Purja returned to Shishapangma, Tibet, this month to retrieve the our bodies of American climber Anna Gutu and her information Mingmar Sherpa, seven months after their tragic deaths in an avalanche in October 2023. Anna Gutu was aiming to turn into the primary American girl to climb all 14 8,000+ peaks on the planet. On the time of her demise she was in a head-on-head race with Gina Marie Rzucidlo who was led by Tenjen (Tenjin) Lama Sherpa. The 2 climbers from Seven Summit Tracks perished on the identical day in a separate avalanche on Shishapangma.
Nims’ workforce was given particular permission by the Chinese language Authorities to climb Shishapangma, because the workforce round Elite Exped, Nims’ firm, knew the exact location of the 2 victims. The identical permission was additionally sought by a workforce round Kristin Harila for the our bodies of Rzucidlo and Tenjen Lama Sherpa, nonetheless, Harila’s workforce didn’t acquire permission to retrieve the 2 our bodies of the Seven Summit Tracks expedition. Harila had summited the 14 8,000+ peaks with Tenjen Lama Sherpa simply previous to his demise. Harila shared on her social media how heartbroken she was to not be capable of search and repatriate the physique of her former information and climbing associate.
“It appears like all the things in my life is on maintain, at the very least till we have now tried to seek out them. We want a closure. However sadly, not now, not this time.”
— Kristin Harila
China didn’t problem any climbing permits for Shishapangma for the April/Might climbing window. Roughly 50 international climbers had utilized for permits to climb the 8,027-meter-high Tibetian mountain this spring and had been turned away. Nims’ workforce was the one climbing workforce to obtain a particular permission to climb. Harila is aiming to use for a allow for the October climbing window, though situations in October could possibly be much less opportune, as Shishapangma is likely to be buried in snow by then.
Nims’ workforce spent three days and nights retrieving the our bodies of Anna Gutu and Mingmar Sherpa with the assistance of three Tibetian sherpas. Their our bodies had been taken throughout the border to Kathmandu, from the place Gutu’s physique will likely be flown again residence whereas Mingmar Sherpa will likely be reunited along with his household in Nepal. Nims admits that the journey was one of the crucial difficult duties he has ever undertaken on the mountain. The mission nearly failed after three workforce members turned unwell en-route and two needed to be on oxygen from glacier level. A workforce of 30 males helped carry the our bodies of Gutu and Mingmar from the beginning of glacier to the automobile level.
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