Travel advisory - Snowstorms in Annapurna National Park

The organisers of the Great Himalayan Trail have a page of advice for trekking safety that is pertinent to the current situation. Whatever happens moving forward, a new system for informing trekkers about weather conditions must be a priority.

More trekkers rescued from Kagbeni - news here.

Does anybody know the circumstances on the Larkya La pass , as I am heading to Nepal next week to trek around Manaslu? .

The news is that the pass is blocked. A friend of mine was unable to cross the pass due to snowfall so he returned back. I guess the pass is blocked for now but it might open up in a week or so. I think it was not hit as hard as Lhorang La. Make your inquiries before you head out to Larkya la.

Re some form of warning system - one thing the authorities could easily do is to alert guides and lodge owners in a region that a particularly severe storm may be headed their way. As explained in one of my posts above, in Oct 2013 I, prompted by a post from Roger Ray, alerted the two guides I trek with about the possible approach of cyclone Phailin via some text messages from the UK, which they were able to pick up in the Everest region (though there are black spots with no coverage). The storm struck the Everest region less than 2 days later. A warning such as text messages means that people on the spot can keep an extra careful eye on any cloud build up - no cloud means no snow risk, some things are quite simple. BTW if there is significant cloud build up, then it is almost always safest to take a rest day and stay in a lodge - being caught in the open would be incredibly dangerous, especially if say crossing one of the big glaciers or high passes.

Many Nepalis have mobile phones - even the mothers (who are in their late 50s - early 60s) of both the Nepalis I know use mobiles in their villages - all sorts of people in Nepal have adapted quickly to this technology. So something as simple as this would greatly help in warning people.

The quality of guides does vary enormously, but Nepal is very much a developing country - people must not expect the sort of consistency of standards that you get in the "west".

Also some people seem to have an almost blind faith in "reputable TAAN agencies". When I have raised questions about TAAN on another forum, to try and give a more balanced view IMO, all my "questioning" posts were removed, and not re-instated on appeal, so I wonder what is going on on that forum when people question certain aspects of TAAN and how they operate. More than once I have seen guides, with groups from TAAN agencies, who had little real knowledge of trekking and how to deal with problems - I have cited several specific examples in the past. This is not to say that people should not use agencies or qualified staff, but that they should try to check carefully into the real trekking experience of guides, and not just be re-assured because it is a TAAN agency. Also TAAN have been very manipulative and even downright dishonest in the recent past - one example being the "announcement" in 2012 that solo trekking had been banned, following the murder and disappearance of some female solo trekkers in the Langtang area. There was, and is, no such ban.

I also, and again more than once, have seen trekkers who were very poorly equipped for what they were intending to do. As well as a possible lack of funds, this may be due to them reading posts put up by some people saying they did XYZ trek with no problems at all and asking why people recommend carrying various items of clothing, using experienced guides (if say doing the 3 High Passes trek) and so on - I think such posts, though based on actual experience, can give people a very false sense of security. The classic example for me is crossing say a high pass in the Everest region - in good weather, and with others around, and if people are fit enough and sufficiently acclimatised, it is not that tricky or risky. However if there is say some snow, not severe but just enough to obscure the trail, things will become much more difficult - I have read of several people making basic but quite serious mistakes on the approach route to Khongma La in particular.

Thank you Sumandb, I guess it will be 2 weeks before we would have gotten as far as the pass so hopefully it will have cleared

I'm trying to find out about a friend who is missing, whearabouts unkown. By my reckoning he had either just finished his rest in Manang and was walking between Manang to Yak Kharka, or from Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi. I know these areas are affected, but most of the deaths have occured on the pass, is this correct?

Are there lots of people still trapped in the areas between Manang and Thorong Pedi?

He started on the 6th or 7th, which would have been 8 or 9 days in to the trek when the storm struck.

The BBC are reporting the death toll has risen to 39 but a group of Belgian trekkers has been rescued from Huk village on Mustang Dolpo border - names are listed on the TAAN site here.

Hi - I've been looking for Marcus on the lists from TAAN but I haven't seen him so far and his status is still unknown on the unofficial list. Lots of people are still being rescued after being stuck at teahouses so I'm hoping this is the case.

Thanks, I've been looking too on those sites, we've worked out he's been trekking with a slovakian guy called Peter Petrovic.