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2025 Archive Index - All Editions

Lenin Peak's deadliest tragedy

In the summer of 1990, 45 climbers, primarily from the Leningrad Mountaineering Club, were at Camp 2 (5,300m) on what is now called the Razdelnaya Route on Peak Lenin’s north face. The party included Soviet climbers Leonid Troshchinenko, Vladimir Voronin, and Alexei Koren (among others), six mountaineers from the former Czechoslovakia (including Miroslav Brozman), four Israelis, two Swiss climbers, and one Spaniard.

On July 13 at 9:30 pm, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake (with its epicenter in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush) shook the Pamirs. It dislodged a serac from nearby Chapaev Peak, triggering a massive avalanche. Snow and ice hit Camp 2 on Lenin Peak, burying the climbers in seconds, and killing 43 people from five nations. Soviet helicopters searched for the avalanche victims but initially could only recover one body. In 2004, because of glacial melt, human remains surfaced at 4,200m, with more emerging in 2008.

This is just one part of the article which also covers other tragedies on the peak.
More ... (Explorers Web)

Avalanche halts traffic on Lahaul-Spiti road

Traffic movement on the Udaipur-Killar road in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh came to a standstill late Wednesday (April 30, 2025) night after an avalanche struck near Daread Nala, cutting off the valley from the rest of the region. Over a dozen vehicles, including two Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses, were stranded on either side of the blocked route. Following the incident, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) teams and machinery were dispatched to the site to clear the snow and restore connectivity.
Source ... (TheNewzRadar)

Cornice Blast Filmed at Beartooth Basin Ahead of Ski Season

Beartooth Basin hasn’t actually been open for summer skiing the past couple of years due to insufficient snowpack. That changed this year though as Beartooth recently announced it’ll be spinning lifts this summer starting on May 26, 2025 (Memorial Day). To prepare for the upcoming “season,” staff are clearing out whatever avalanche hazards they can identify, including a cornice where they filmed a controlled avalanche explosion.

Note that the quoted explanation below the Instagram video or link placeholder, from a woman at the National Avalanche Center, is not relevant to the video. She talks about blasts in a layered snowpack with slabs, not behind a cornice in spring.
Source ... (The Inertia)

Rogers Pass winter permit season ends; 62 safety calls

Glacier National Park's Winter Permit System (WPS) wraps up Thursday, May 8, as Parks Canada reminds visitors of continued avalanche risk this spring. They reported that this last year's snowpack was low for Glacier. On Mount Fidelity, the 1,082 centimetres of snow accumulated by March 31 was "well below average" at 85 per cent of mean annual snowfall. The winter season, from October to March, saw snow hit the park three out of four days.

Despite lower snow levels, Parks Canada recounted a "busy winter" that logged 62 visitor safety incident reports between last Nov. 1 and April 28. This included 21 parties requiring rescue, of which six needed helicopter assistance. A total 30 reports were avalanche related, such as a dozen incidents where people were caught in a slide. Meanwhile, avalanche control conducted a dozen missions, fired 537 howitzer rounds, detonated 45 remote explosives, and dropped 71 helicopter explosives.
Source... (Revelstoke Review)