KATHMANDU: A recovery team led by Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, Managing Director of Dreamers Destination Treks, reached Lamabagar in Dolakha with two helicopters on Friday morning, but adverse weather prevented the aircraft from flying onward to Yalung Ri base camp to recover mortal remains spotted at the avalanche site.

Ngima Geli Sherpa, ward chair of Gaurishankar Rural Municipality, said the helicopters reached Lamabagar but could not proceed towards Yalung Ri because of the weather conditions.
“From there they couldn’t fly to Yalung Ri base camp due to adverse weather conditions,” Sherpa said.

A search team is already in the area and is working to recover the remains spotted at around 5,000 metres, he said. The helicopters are expected to transport the remains once weather conditions allow flights to the area.

The remains were first spotted by local workers on Thursday, nearly nine months after a massive avalanche swept through an international climbing team on the Yalung Ri route on November 3, 2025.

The workers, who were in the area for house construction, had hiked towards Yalung Ri base camp and spotted what appeared to be at least five bodies after ice melted around the avalanche site. They had gone towards the area following requests from expedition organisers and families of the missing climbers.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the remains belong to the five climbers who have remained missing since the avalanche.

The November 3 avalanche buried seven climbers, including five foreigners, while five others were injured. Italian-Canadian Marco Di Marcello, Italian Markus Kirchler, German Jakob Schreiber, and Nepali guides Padam Tamang and Mere Karki were reported missing.

The bodies of Italian climber Paolo Cocco and French national Christian Andre Manfredi were recovered on November 5, shortly after the avalanche.

A four-member Nepali rescue team led by IFMGA/NNMGA guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa, with Pasang Kidar Sherpa, Chhiring Sonam Lama and aspirant guide Pasang Temba Sherpa, had reached the avalanche site on November 5 to search for the missing climbers. International rescue experts later joined the operation, but the team was unable to locate the remaining five climbers.

The latest discovery has renewed efforts to recover the missing climbers, although the operation remains dependent on weather conditions in the high-altitude area.