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2025 Archive Index - All Editions

Skier Deploys Avalanche Airbag in Wild Ride (Video)

Details are sparse on this avalanche video but apparently the slide happened in Slovakia and the skier survived but suffered a broken foot. The avalanche airbag worked as advertised keeping the skier on top of the debris flow but the skier still had to contend with an uncontrolled descent through a maze of rock walls.
The source article has a video from Instagram embedded or linked.
Source ... (Unofficial Networks)

Avalanche temporarily closes Dushanbe-Khorog highway

April 9 - An avalanche that occurred this morning in the Rushan district of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) has blocked the Dushanbe-Khorog highway, temporarily halting traffic, the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan reports. “On April 9, at 06:50, an avalanche occurred in the area near the village of Vaznavd in the Rushan district,” the Committee's statement reads. “As a result of the incident, there are no casualties, but traffic on the highway has been temporarily suspended.” It also reminds that due to ongoing precipitation, there is a high risk of avalanches, mudflows, landslides, snowdrifts, and icy conditions in the foothill and mountainous areas.
Source ... (Asia-Plus Tajikistan)

Annapurna: Bodies of Missing Climbers Found with Recco

Sherpas on Annapurna have located the bodies of Rima Sherpa and Ngima Tashi Sherpa, who died in an avalanche on Tuesday. They found the bodies thanks to a Recco reflector in their clothing. All the Sherpa staff with Kathmandu-based Seven Summit Treks (SST) use Recco reflectors in their clothes or gear. These passive reflectors can help locate a person when a search team uses a specific device that emits a radio signal. If the passive reflectors on the victims’ clothes bounce back the signal, the searchers’ device emits a beeping sound. Such reflectors are present by default in a wide range of mountaineering gear and were made mandatory for Everest climbers last year.

The climbers were slightly above Camp 2 when the avalanche struck. It was suspected that the snow had carried the victims into a crevasse. A group of Sherpas searching for them found a signal emitted by a Recco reflector, as seen in a video shared by expedition leader, Chhang Dawa Sherpa. While at least one of the bodies has been located, it is unclear if their remains will be recovered. As of today, 75 people have died on Annapurna; 39 out of them — nearly half — in avalanches, ExplorerWeb’s KrisAnnapurna points out. Out of the 75 casualties, 20 were Sherpas, including Rima Sherpa and Gnima Tashi Sherpa.
The source article includes a video of the Recco being used successfully on Annapurna.
Source ... (Explorers Web)