(NBC News) Oct. 5, 2025: Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday on Tibet’s eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 [rich] people [spending at least $84,000 in 1922 prices for the attempt to summit and gain bragging rights] were trapped by a blizzard, according to Chinese state media reports. NBC News’ Camila Bernal has the latest.
For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of the day, click: nbcnews.com. #nbcnews #currentevents
Heavy snowfall, wind, rain has trapped hikers on the slopes of Mount Everest
(DW News) Oct. 6, 2025: DW (Deutsche World) is a German public broadcast service. One trekker has died. Rescuers have guided hundreds of other trekkers trapped on Everest to safety. Unusually heavy snowfall and rainfall have battered the Himalayas. According to Chinese state media, the hikers have reached the small township of Qudang, Tingri County, and rescuers have made contact with the remaining 200 trekkers. Kenton Cool, a British mountaineer, talks about the situation and rescue efforts.
(Luke Korns) July 28, 2024: What's up? My name is Luke Korns. I trekked to Everest Base Camp with a retired Nepalese Sherpa guide from the Himalayas. His name is Phanden. To contact him, email sherpa.phanden@gmail.com.
Follow me on Twitter (lukekorns ) or Instagram (LukeKorns).
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Once upon a time in Nepal...
Just give me a few years of silence.
Once upon a time in Nepal a boy sought enlightenment. He sat under a tree in the woods. But soon he attracted all the wrong kind of attention. It wasn't just the tree spirits and unseen beings who haunt the forest. It was devoted looky-loos and devoted observers. He got up and went somewhere else, acting like a modern-day Siddhartha.
[But Prince Sid Gautama was actually in Gandhara, what the ancient Greeks called Scythia, in the territory or mahajanapada of the Sakas (Indo-Scythians) called Kapilavastu. But never mind about that detail; historians have relocated him to tiny Nepal on the border of India where it's easier to safeguard his story and monuments, leaving the massive ones in and around his hometown in Afghanistan to languish for centuries with no one paying much attention until recently: Mes Aynak, Bamiyan, Ajina Tepe...]
I'm a do-it-yourselfer, a self-awakened buddha.
The boy's name was Ram Bahadur Bomjon (nicknamed "Buddha Boy" for some similarities to the story of Siddhartha), who eventually became an esoteric Vajrayana lama and spiraled into disrepute. Too much fame too soon does that to a meditator.
What would it have taken to ascend the mountain of wisdom and reach the pinnacle of knowing-and-seeing? Restraints on practice, boundaries, a solid disciplinary code (vinaya). "All we ever wanted was everything. All we ever got was cold," sings Bauhaus. Now could an American reach the Holy Land and get to the base of what is reputedly the tallest mountain in the world?
But, Son, what about avalanches? - Oh, Mom!
Thanks to CleanMyMac X for sponsoring the trip. Get Your Mac vacation-ready with a 7-day free trial of CleanMyMac X https://bit.ly/LukeKorns. Use my promo code LUKEK for 20% off. :D
Luke Korns, wandering in Nepal, 2024; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (rated R) from 2023 has now being released. It's one hour and 45 minutes about a single Vajrayana Buddhist mother working as a dishwasher. She has another life as a record-breaking mountain climber in Nepal.
As a single mother, she works as a dishwasher. In reality, one can meet her in the U.S., working at Whole Foods. Her personality is such that one wants to be around her and hear from her.
Directed by Lucy Walker. It stars climber Lhakpa Sherpa, Shiny Dijmarescu, Nima Sherpa, and Sunny Dijmarescu. More:IMDb
Legendary mountain climber stripped of Guinness World Records after map enthusiast claims he stopped 5 meters short of real summit. Westerner Reinhold Messner has been stripped of his Guinness World Records.
The famed mountaineer who believed he had scaled the 14 highest peaks on the planet is furious after he was stripped of his Guinness World Records when a map enthusiast said he stopped five meters short of the true summit on one of those climbs, namely, Annapurna.
Annapurna mountain, Nepal (Alamy)
[However, BuddhistSherpa guides and porters did make it to the top of the highest mountains and have been doing so for a long time without the glory. Without them, no Westerner would be making it to the top of Mt. Everest, Annapurna, or K-2, allegedly the highest summit in the world, even taller than Everest.]
Reinhold Messner mad at Guinness Book folks
Reinhold Messner was recognized as having been the first man to climb the world's 8,000-meter summits.
But Eberhard Jurgalski, after using German space agency imagery, has said he fell just short of reaching the actual peak of Annapurna in the Himalayas when he climbed it in 1985.
After a decade of work, Jurgalski believes he stopped five meters away, and that mountaineers failed to properly complete the summits on three different peaks. More
(Monstrum, 3/11/20) The yeti is one of the world’s most notorious cryptids, one searched for in earnest and with great enthusiasm.
The huge, hairy bear-man monster is said to roam the valleys of the Himalayas, and some people out there are convinced the “abominable snowman” (actually man bear snow man) is real.
Does this snow monster really exist? Is it a type of bear or Bigfoot? An unidentified humanoid species (Almas, Gigantopithecus)? Himalayan Buddhist lore? Complete fiction?
Let’s find out in this episode of Monstrum. Host Dr. Emily Zarka examines the yeti’s origins, from the ancient Tibetan Buddhist folklore to the modern Westernized "abominable snowman" version.
These ogres are filthy, stink and live in the snow
She explains how Buddhist beliefs, a series of intrepid 20th-century explorers, and a creatively translated word make the yeti the creature we recognize today — and how it led to some pretty incredible scientific discoveries.
Written and hosted by Dr. Emily Zarka. Director: David Schulte. Executive Producer: Amanda Fox. Producer: Stephanie Noone. Illustrator: Samuel Allen. Editor: Derek Borsheim. Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
Gigantopithecus looks just like a yeti that goes on all fours (Concavenator/wiki)
Bellezza, John Vincent. Spirit-mediums, Sacred Mountains and Related Bon Textual Traditions in Upper Tibet: Calling Down the Gods. BRILL, 2005.
Capper, D. S. (2012). The Friendly Yeti. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture, 6(1), 71-87. Available at: aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/14855.
Choi, Charles Q. “‘Yeti Hair? Nothing so Abominable, Scientists Find.” Live Science, Nov. 29, 2017. livescience.com/61048-yeti....
Hodgson, B. H. "Summary Description of Four New Species of Otter. By B. H. Hodgson, Esq., Resident at Catmandu, Nepal." Annals of Natural History, vol. 5, no. 28, 1840, p. 27+
Hodgson, B. H. “On the Mammalia of Nepal.” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 1 (1832): pp. 335-349.
Howard-Bury, Lieut.-Col. C.K and Other Members of the Mount Everest Expedition. Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance, 1921. Longmans, Green and Co., 1922.
Kets de Vries, Manfred F. R. "Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot: A Psychoanalytic Search for the Origin of Yeti and Sasquatch Tales" Fabula, 23.1 (2009): 246-261.
Lan, Tianying, et. al. “Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau‑Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti.” Proceedings Royal Society, 284: 20171804.
Loxton, Daniel, and Donald R. Prothero. Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids. Columbia University Press, 2013.
Regal, Brian. Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Ward, Michael. “Everest 1951: the footprints attributed to the Yeti—myth and reality.” Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 8 (1997): pp. 29–32.
Waddell, Laurence Austine. Among the Himalayas. 2nd edition. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co., 1900.
"Yeti." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers Harrap, 1st edition, 2007.
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Ajahn Chah via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; John Oliver
Steadily rather than forcing
To reach the moon, aim for the stars.
Don’t be in a hurry and try to push or rush your meditation practice. Do it gently and gradually, step by step, free of greed/over-efforting.
In regard to peacefulness, if we want to become peaceful, then accept it. If we don’t become peaceful, then accept that also. That’s the nature of the heart/mind.
We must find our own practice and persistently keep at it rather than pushing, forcing, or rushing.
Perhaps wisdom does not arise. I used to think about my practice that when there is no wisdom, I could force myself to have it. But it doesn’t work. Things remain the same.
Then, after careful consideration, I saw that to contemplate things we don’t have can't be done. So what’s the best thing to do? It’s better to practice meditation with equanimity.
If there is nothing to cause us concern, then there’s nothing to remedy. If there’s no problem, then we don’t have to try to solve it. When there is a problem, that’s when we must solve it, right where it is.
There’s no need to go searching for anything special. Just live normally. But know what the heart/mind is. Live mindfully, clearly comprehending. Let wisdom be the guide.
Don’t live indulging moods. Be heedful and alert. If there is nothing, that’s fine. When something arises, then investigate and contemplate it.
Action vs. inaction
Let go of pre-judgement and try.
(Ajahn Lee) A person who makes a mistake is better than a person who doesn't act at all. Mistakes can be corrected. If we don't act, how will we know how to correct ourselves? We don't know whether we're mistaken or not. The fact that we don't act is a mistake in and of itself. [But to act hastily, without guidance, is more foolish.]
Levitation is a supernormal power that Buddhists can develop by meditation.
Real supernormal powers in Buddhism Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
In Buddhism supernatural or magical powers (Sanskrit siddhi and Paliiddhi) are special "psychic" abilities one can develop through meditation. There are six types of these supernormal powers (abhijñā) of the mundane plane attained by practicing four dhyānas, absorptions, deep concentrations, samadhis. The normal Sanskrit meaning of siddhi is "increase, growth, prosperity, success, fortune, wealth, abundance." In Buddhism these powers are neither unnatural nor super natural but very extraordinary and unusual. More
5 tribes believed to have real life superpowers Here are five tribes who are believed to have real-life superpowers. Unexplained Mysteries takes a look at tribes that prove they have real-life superpowers. All across the world a variety of cultures, traditions, religions, and people create their own community. They excel as they develop within their social groups isolated from others.
5. Kenyan tribe of the Rift Valley are best runners
4. Underwater Indonesians can really hold their breath
This sense of community and family stands out most for tribes that rely on each other for survival and on special values and traditions they have kept since their conception. Is it a mystery that some, isolated from the world, set off on their path?
The general population declines while others develop new ways to tackle difficult problems. The mystery is that some of these developments baffle scientists and challenge what they used to believe was possible for humans. (Thanks to CO.AG for background music).
(HBO, Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel) For some, climbing Mt. Everest is an achievement. For the indigenous Sherpas, it's life and death. Helping climbers climb is the deadliest job in the world. #RealSportsHBO
I Survived a Night at the Top of Mt. Everest; I Shouldn't be Alive
(Wonder/ITV Global) On Mt. Everest a climber falls into unconsciousness at 28,000 feet. His Sherpa guides leave him for dead, but then he wakes up. Now he faces the impossible -- to survive the night alone, with no oxygen or shelter, on the world's highest mountain.
WONDER is packed with binge-worthy reality documentaries; it is a hub of diverse and empowering stories that explore the extreme side of life!
Follow along on this 15-day trek in the month of May to Mount Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar in 21 minutes. But EBC or Everest Base Camp is a long way from the top.
With a death rate statistically higher than soldiers in the U.S. War on Iraq, why would anyone risk his or her life to climb Mount Everest? Photographer Aaron Huey points his camera at the unsung heroes of mountaineering -- the Sherpas. More ABOUT NAT GEO LIVE: Thought-provoking presentations by today's leading explorers, scientists, and photographers. NatGeoOfficialSite, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through its world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets us closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible. Upcoming Events
Levison Wood walked 1,700 miles, from [formerly Buddhist] Afghanistan to [the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom now a democracy] Bhutan along the Himalayan Mountain range.
He says that seeing Everest, the highest mountain in the world was "just magical."
When NPR talked with British adventurer Levison Wood back in 2015, he had recently completed an epic, 9-month journey, along the length of the Nile River [in Africa]. When asked where he was headed next, Wood told said he did have another big expedition planned but that it was "top-secret."
Wood is now back from that top-secret journey -- which turned out to be walking the length of the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to Bhutan. He joins NPR's Rachel Martin to talk about "a few high points, literally and metaphysically."
Wood wanted to explore the valleys and foothills of the great mountain range, but the expedition much more than a trek. "For me this wasn't necessarily about climbing mountains or sticking flags in peaks," he says. "It was really an opportunity to share story of the Himalayas, the history, the geography, the cultures."
I actually met Binod when I was 19 years old. I traveled in the Himalayas as a young backpacker. So when I was 19, I was there in the mountains in Nepal and it was actually a civil war going on at the time between Maoist insurgents and the government.
Binod actually rescued me one day — there was some fighting going on and the entire royal family was actually killed in Nepal. And Binod took me into the hills and looked after me for a couple of weeks. That's how I met him — that was 14 years ago.
And so when I decided I was going to walk the Himalayas he was the obvious guide. I wanted to go repay my debts to him and it was great to have this reunion and go and see his family after all this time.
The people living around the Himalayas
Stupa or chorten, Buddhist reliquary mound, Bhutan (boldadenturesnepal.com)
Maitreya Buddha in Ladakh, Himalayas
It's such a diverse region; the people in the western edge of the Himalayas in Afghanistan and Pakistan [which were forcibly converted from Buddhism to Islam] don't really have that much in common with the people in the east in [Buddhist] Bhutan and Tibet in terms of religion, or ethnicity, or language.
But what they do share is this common bond of living in the foothills of this great mountain range and sharing those daily perils and the dangers and challenges that come with that.
I traveled to Afghanistan before, both as a soldier — I was there on operations in combat back in 2008 — but also I traveled there a couple times as well as basically a backpacker.
I'd actually gone kind of undercover dressed as an Afghan, I learned a bit of language and trekked across the country way back in 2004. So it was kind of a homecoming to go back.
Afghanistan — there are parts that are very dangerous, you've got the Taliban and all the rest of it...actually though, there are still parts that are so remote that it actually means they're safe because the only people that live there are nomads.
In the area where I started walking in the northeast, the only people that lived there were nomads. These people were the descendants of Genghis Kahn, the Kyrgyz people that have got nothing in common with the [the CIA and Pakistani Intelligence-created] Taliban that live in the southern regions.
Day he got dropped off to begin his trek
So the journey began in...this very, very remote part of Afghanistan. I got dropped off by helicopter because that was the only way to get there...it's called the Wakhan Corridor, it's this narrow valley that separates Afghanistan, from Tajikistan, from China, and from Pakistan.
[We] get dropped off there — literally on the roof of the world. The first person we encountered was actually this nomadic shepherd and he had a big stick and he came up and he was sort of prodding us, wondering where we came from — out of the sky?
He actually asked us if we were Islamic State [ISIS]. He thought we'd landed to convert his tribe into fundamentalism, and he said: "Look, we don't want any of that around here."
Tiger's Nest Vajrayana Buddhist monastery, Bhutan (adventurewomen.com)
It's very difficult to describe. It's one of these very unique places in the world where nothing else comes quite close. After the chaos of Nepal and India going into Bhutan felt like entering a completely different world. Suddenly the streets were clean there was no pollution...
I think Bhutan is the only carbon negative country in the world....
But are they as happy as US? (valleyymca.org)
And it was just so pristine it was like going back in time 500 years. All the houses are very beautifully decorated, very ornate, the people are very happy [it's the only country in the world to replace the GDP, or Gross Domestic Product," with a better index of prosperity, Gross Domestic Happiness], they live in this kind of feudal system where...everybody is a big fan of the monarchy and everybody seems very happy. There's not much dissent there. ...
It was an education to go to somewhere like that and literally feel as though you're being transported back in time.
High points of the trip
I think from a purely personal point of view going to visit Binod's family after all these years and sort of closing that circle that was a real high point for me.
...But also physically getting over some the highest passes in the world, going beyond Everest Base Camp, seeing the highest mountain in the world, right there on a beautiful clear blue day, was just magical. More + AUDIO
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and British Sir Edmund Hillary were first to summit in 1953.
A Nepalese mountain Sherpa, a Dutch man, an Australian woman, and an Indian man are among the deaths
Two Indian climbers are missing, expedition organizers said
Avalanches killed 35 climbers on Mount Everest in the past two years -- including 16 in one devastating day in 2014. At least one person has died climbing the mountain in Nepal every year since 1900.
And now the 2016 climbing season has claimed its first victims.
Since last Thursday four people have died on the 29,035-foot peak, including a Sherpa. Rescue efforts are ongoing for two other missing climbers.
Is K2 higher? (Robbie Ryan/IFC Films/NPR)
"Everest is a mountain of extremes," said Jon Kedrowski, a geographer and climber who summited Mount Everest in 2012, when 10 climbers died. "At altitude, the body deteriorates on a certain level.
The recent deaths -- coming so quickly on the heels of one another -- have rattled climbers who are beginning their descent as the Everest climbing season nears its end. April and May are the most common months to attempt a climb because there tends to be less wind. Regardless, the climate on the mountain is brutal. Temperatures range from -31 to -4 Fahrenheit.
April was the first month of climbing since all ascent was halted after the catastrophic earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015 and a deadly avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas in one day in 2014. More than 200 climbers have died since Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent in 1953.
And yet the hopefuls keep coming. More than 400 people have attempted the Everest climb this season, including 288 foreigners and more than 100 Sherpas and guides, said Sudarshan Dhakal, director of the Nepal Tourism Department. That's more than the average for previous seasons, he said.
Here's a closer look at the recent fatalities. More + VIDEO
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(Wonder/ITV Global) On Mt. Everest a climber falls into unconsciousness at 28,000 feet. His Sherpa guides leave him for dead, but then he wakes up. Now he faces the impossible -- to survive the night alone, with no oxygen or shelter, on the world's highest mountain.
