Bushwalk Australia

Posted: **Sat 25 Apr, 2015 9:08 pm**

Not Good News from Nepal :cry:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-25/s ... ke/6421696

An Avalanche on Mt Everest

Quake triggers Everest avalanche, climbers at risk

The powerful earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, climbers said, raising fears for those on the world's highest peak a year after another avalanche caused the deadliest incident on the mountain.

Romanian climber Alex Gavan said on Twitter that there had been a "huge avalanche" and "many, many" people were up on the mountain.

"Running for life from my tent," he said.

"Everest base camp huge earthquake then huge avalanche."

Another climber, Daniel Mazur, said Everest base camp had been "severely damaged" and his team was trapped.

"Please pray for everyone," he said on his Twitter page.

An avalanche in April 2014 just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepali guides.

April is one of the most popular times to climb Everest before rain and clouds cloak the mountain at the end of next month.

Link to Nepal Earthquake history

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... al_summary

Posted: **Sat 25 Apr, 2015 9:42 pm**

7.8 magnitude is big! The Indian plate is still moving to the east. Worrying situation.

Read a foreign report, stating 8 have confirmed to have died on the slopes at this stage.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 9:37 am**

Such a terrible thing to happen. The death toll is mounting

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32467986

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Nepal's deadliest earthquake for more than 80 years, police say.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara.
There were also victims in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and on Mount Everest, where avalanches were triggered.
The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas, and help has been offered by countries around the world.
Little information has emerged from the epicentre, where extensive damage has been reported, and there are fears the death toll could rise yet further.
The Nepalese information minister has told the BBC that 1,500 people had been killed in the disaster, but that the true casualty figure would probably be much higher.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 11:14 am**

And if you are an OSM mapper please consider giving a couple of hours to do some digitising in the affected areas.

http://tasks.hotosm.org/

Everest base camp is not looking so good either...

http://www.smh.com.au/world/hundreds-of ... mtadq.html

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 12:46 pm**

Digitising based on what data?

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 12:53 pm**

The underlying data is Bing imagery usually. Instructions on what to digitise are on each task

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 12:55 pm**

I see. Will contribute this evening.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 1:30 pm**

Rip all.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 2:32 pm**

tastrax wrote:And if you are an OSM mapper please consider giving a couple of hours to do some digitising in the affected areas.
http://tasks.hotosm.org/

That site is overloaded. Can't access... Well, it took a while.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 10:27 pm**

All the best to the people of Nepal and the folk that were up at EBC

For the uninitiated, what is this about?

tastrax wrote:And if you are an OSM mapper please consider giving a couple of hours to do some digitising in the affected areas.

http://tasks.hotosm.org/

Everest base camp is not looking so good either...

http://www.smh.com.au/world/hundreds-of ... mtadq.html

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 10:36 pm**

nickthetasmaniac wrote:For the uninitiated, what is this about?

OSM (Openstreetmap.org) is an open source worldwide mapping effort that's used by numerous people. In this case, with limited map resource in the affected area, OSM can be a useful resource for all who are involved in the rescue effort. By contributing to the mapping effort using the latest satellite data, we can all help a little in the rescue effort there.

Posted: **Sun 26 Apr, 2015 11:48 pm**

The avalanche on Everest is the least of Nepal's problems. Most of the thousands of casualties reported so far are from Kathmandu Valley. Up in the hills landslides are common even without quakes - it's likely that entire villages have been destroyed. The death toll is probably going to rise significantly.

Kathmandu has long been rated as highly vulnerable to earthquake. The city is built on the bed of a dried-up lake which apparently is about geologically as bad as can be. And if you've ever seen buildings under construction there it's obvious that there is little regulation and no doubt plenty of corruption. Indeed buildings have been know to fall down spontaneously, so it's little wonder a 7.9 magnitude quake brings then down.

We have at least received information that our own very close connections in Nepal are OK.

Very grim news indeed.

Posted: **Fri 01 May, 2015 5:44 pm**

I've donated some money but it is so hard to know where the cash goes these days. Friend of a friend is there now, safe but cold, wet, hungry and tired; apparently she still has internet and updated yesterday

Posted: **Fri 01 May, 2015 7:35 pm**

Red Cross is just about the only one I trust.

Posted: **Fri 01 May, 2015 8:26 pm**

I try to avoid donating to large charities where my money is likely to end up in some executive's pocket. My choice is the Australian Himalayan Foundation.

Posted: **Sat 02 May, 2015 4:51 am**

http://www.outsideonline.com/1972776/ne ... e-how-help

Larger charities, like the Red Cross, often receive the bulk of the initial funding and have the expertise to carry out immediate disaster relief. But grassroots organizations, many of which are based in Nepal and have been hard-hit by the earthquake, have the knowledge and local support to rebuild communities. Another benefit of donating to them, says Jalbert, is that “you know what they’re doing and in which neighborhood their work happens.”

Posted: **Sat 02 May, 2015 5:25 am**

resupply and medical support

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/las ... 1701531584

Posted: **Sun 03 May, 2015 10:45 am**

A list of names of those missing has been released a few days ago.
It seems that a number were from Launceston / Tasmania.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nepal-earthqua ... ed-1498721

I happen to know that at least one of those missing is a member of this forum.
It would appear that there was a tour group over there at the time.
Not good.

Posted: **Sun 03 May, 2015 11:12 am**

That list is outdated. According to latest reports there are only 20 Australians unaccounted for.
i suspect even this report is outdated as I'm sure I heard the Foreign Minister on the TV news last night saying that all Australians had been accounted for.

Posted: **Sun 03 May, 2015 11:52 am**

RonK wrote:... I'm sure I heard the Foreign Minister on the TV news last night saying that all Australians had been accounted for.

Yes, I heard the same on ABC radio too. I was quite surprised but relieved given the number of Aussies there. Hopefully there's no 'except' in that statement.

Posted: **Sun 03 May, 2015 12:34 pm**

GPSGuided wrote:
RonK wrote:... I'm sure I heard the Foreign Minister on the TV news last night saying that all Australians had been accounted for.

Yes, I heard the same on ABC radio too. I was quite surprised but relieved given the number of Aussies there. Hopefully there's no 'except' in that statement.

Well, the exception is that "accounted for" doesn't necessarily mean survived, since it's known that an Australian perished at EBC.

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 3:52 am**

HOW EVEREST CLIMBERS MADE THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE EVEN WORSE

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/h ... even-worse

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 1:33 pm**

^ I was discussing this very topic with my wife the day after the quake. We assumed that all available choppers would be in use and the climbers would have to walk out.
We were very surprised that they were diverted to Everest. Hence in an earlier post I commented that Everest was the least of Nepal's worries.

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 3:21 pm**

alan arnette showed a video of his helicopter flight out over the icefall. in his opinion the crevasses had opened up so much and were so deep they were unbridgeable and walking out wasnt practical. although the question begs if they had enough food the helicopters could have been put to more urgent use ferrying injured people and supplies elsewhere in nepal where they were more urgently needed

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 3:44 pm**

But that would only affect climbers above the Khumbu icefall. Anybody at base camp (i.e. most of them) could have walked. And it wouldn't have taken much heli time to move the climbers across the icefall to base camp. Really only the injured need to be evacuated.

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 4:12 pm**

I thought they only evacuated those who were in camp 1 and 2 by helicopter. I assumed they were evacuated down to base camp and that's all. No?

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 4:38 pm**

i'im not sure but some climbers would have had insurance that would have covered for heli evac further down. some subscribe to emergency services that are pretty comprehensive and can include ex military personnel trained to come and extract them from just about anywhere to just about anywhere... they pay for the helicopter to go where they dictate...

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 5:07 pm**

I read that all Everest climbers have such insurance (mandatory?) and they are all entitled to call for a helivac. Wasn't that what the article was about that this is guaranteed money for the heli operators while disaster relief may not be paid.

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 5:21 pm**

i'm talking about other services that can guarantee you are evaced all the way to a modern hospital or major town at least, ie helivac you to lukla the nearest airport or kathmandu.

Posted: **Thu 07 May, 2015 9:53 pm**

Well one of my friends is still missing, thought to be in the Langtang area and he is an Aussie............. I hope he shows up somewhere, he is a bit random so its still possible he is okay and has not checked in yet.

Bushwalk Australia

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