Everest Climbing Legend Missing On Baruntse (Updated!)

Update: According to this post, from Alan Arnette over at the Outside Blog, the search has been called off. After using the helicopter to survey the area, the SAR team determined that it was impossible that Chhewang Nima could have survived the avalanche.

My condolences to his family.

Nepali climbing legend Chhewang Nima Sherpa has gone missing on Baruntse following an avalanche on that mountain this past weekend. He is an extremely experienced guide who has reached the summit of Everest on 19 separate occasions.

According to this story from the BBC, Chhewang Nima was fixing ropes to the summit of Baruntse at an altitude of roughly 7045 meters (23,114 ft) on Saturday when he was hit by the avalanche, which sent him over the north-east face of the mountain. Fellow climbers immediately began the search, but have not had any luck in finding him thus far. A helicopter was expected on the scene today to aid in the rescue operations.

Located in eastern Nepal, Baruntse is 7129 meters (23,389 ft) in height and has distinct summit with four unique peaks. Chhewang Nima was leading a group of climbers for Shangra-La Treks and Expeditions on the mountain when he went missing.

Lets hope there is still a chance for rescue. Nima has been a steadfast figure on Everest for a number of years and it would be a shame for him to perish this way. After two days of searching, it certainly doesn't look good, but he is an experienced and tough mountain guide, so you never know where he may be located, just waiting for help.