American mountaineer Anna Goto and her guide are killed in an avalanche in Tibet

News

by Jorge Fitz Gibbon

American mountaineer Anna Goto and her guide were confirmed killed in an avalanche on a Tibetan mountain on Sunday, while two others, including another American, remain missing, authorities said.

Chinese media reports said that Guto, 32, and her Nepalese guide, Mingmar Sherpa, disappeared on Mount Shishapangma in Tibet on Saturday after they were swept away by an avalanche at an altitude of about 25,000 feet.

American climber Jenna Marie Rozydlo and her guide Tenjin Sherpa are still missing in the high-altitude tragedy.

Karma Jilin Sherlpa, another Nepalese guide, was seriously injured and had to be taken down the mountain and taken to a nearby hospital.

In all, 52 climbers from the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Italy and other countries were attempting to climb Shishapangma, the 14th peak in the world, when disaster struck with a pair of avalanches.

The mountain rises 26,335 feet above sea level.

The Himalayan climbing industry usually reaches its peak in October because it marks the end of the rainy season – although experts warn that climate change has made avalanches more frequent.

At least 120 people have died in avalanches in the Indian Himalayas over the past two years.

Sherpa Tenjen, the 35-year-old guide who is still missing along with Rozydlo, was part of a record-setting team that scaled all 14 of the world’s highest peaks in the fastest time ever earlier this year.

Tenjen, who mentored Norwegian climber Kristin Harela to achieve the feat, sought to become the youngest mountaineer ever to summit each of the 14 mountains twice.

With mail wires