Himlung Himal Avalanche in Nepal Buries 16 Climbers at Base Camp

*Updated October 6, 2026

Disaster has struck Nepal’s Himalayan region once again, as an avalanche has buried 16 people — mostly climbers and support staff — at the Himlung Himal base camp in Nepal. The group reached base camp early to help set up operations and ropes ahead of expedition teams. Following heavy precipitation across a broad swath of the region, an immense avalanche buried the camp under 14 feet (4 meters) of debris. Within hours, an additional fresh layer of snow covered the debris.

Rescue operations have recovered the bodies of 15 of the dead. Rescuers found two on Sunday, September 27, two more on Monday, September 28, 2026, and the remaining 11 once a larger team returned a few days later. One person remains missing.

The deceased have been confirmed as 14 support staff and two sherpa guides. It’s one of the deadliest mountain disasters in Nepal’s history, exceeded only by a 2014 serac collapse on the Khumbu Icefall and the 2015 Everest earthquake.

Incredibly, the mountain is reopening for clients in October, raising questions about safety policies for local staff. If their lives are indeed considered equal in value to Western climbers’, many have questioned why they undertook such risk during a massive storm.

• Related: Nims Dai Purja Confirmed Dead Following Broad Peak Avalanche in Pakistan

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An Entry-Level Climb

Himlung Himal, at 23,380 feet (7,126 meters), is one of the least technical 7,000-ers, considered a great entry-level climb for aspiring mountaineers. In fact, despite the recent disaster, the normal route is relatively safe from objective hazards by Himalayan standards and has a very high summit rate. According to a Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) Instagram update, “the avalanche was enormous — no one had believed that Himlung Base Camp could experience something of that scale.”

A Year of Misfortune in the Himalaya

The Himlung Himal avalanche is the latest in a series of disasters for Nepal. On July 30, 2026, legendary mountaineer Nims Dai Purja died in an avalanche on Broad Peak, along with nine others. At the end of August, a massive landslide triggered a flash flood that enveloped an entire river valley in a matter of minutes, killing 1,400 people and leaving more than 6,000 still missing.

More recently, two climbers died in a slab avalanche on Manaslu, just 16 miles (25 kilometers) as the crow flies from Himlung Himal. With more severe weather expected, authorities closed the mountain shortly thereafter. A massive rescue effort followed, evacuating more than 1,000 climbers and guides by helicopter.

• Related: How a Landslide Triggered a Biblical Flash Flood in Tibet and Nepal

Since then, flooding in Nepal and northeast India has been extensive. The same storms that have abruptly ended the Manaslu climbing season have also produced severe flooding in India’s Himachal Pradesh province, killing over 60 people as of September 29.

While any year can bring unusual weather patterns, climate scientists and meteorologists are particularly worried about this year’s record El Niño. El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Historically, it has signaled severe weather across the globe. The 1877-78 El Niño resulted in the deaths of an estimated 50 million people — about 3-4% of the entire global population at the time — largely due to changes in monsoonal rains in Asia.

Fortunately, with immense technological advances, we’re unlikely to experience anything close to that level of human mortality. However, experts agree that this year will almost certainly produce unusually destructive natural disasters. Likewise, those with mountain pursuits in mind should expect unusual weather and avalanche scenarios and adjust their decision-making accordingly.