Search and repatriate Lama and Gina

On October 7th, 2023, I received the devastating news about Tenjen (Lama) Sherpa and Gina Marie Rzucidlo being swept away by an avalanche on Shishapangma, located in Tibet, China. They were only few meters from the Summit. There were already 2 people confirmed dead and many injured from several avalanches.

I rushed to get to Kathmandu the same day I heard the news. My goal was to assist with search, rescue and to be a support to the family in any way I could. Lama is to me my bhai, which means "younger brother" in Nepali. On the plane to Kathmandu, my thoughts fluctuated between hope and desperation. I could not believe that I might not ever see Bhai ever again.

When I arrived in Kathmandu, and started talking to people who were still in Shishapangma basecamp, the truth I did not want to accept came over me like a cold, dark certainty. Lama was gone, leaving behind his wife, 2 sons and close friends from the sherpa community at Seven Summit Treks. In addition, Gina was gone. She was a strong, spirited woman, a daughter, a sister and an aunt. In addition, 2 other families lost their loved ones that day when Anna Gutu and Migmar Sherpa was so abruptly taken.

I spoke to Gina's sister and mother, trying to understand how I could help or assist. Gina's sister told me that they wanted to repatriate Gina, and would like Gina to be retrieved at the same time as Lama, if possible.

As horrible as it is to loose someone, the fact of not being able to have a body to give a proper funeral, makes it even worse for the families. No matter the religion, culture or nationality, we all need closure. Lama's wife and 2 boys told me several times, that they wish for Lama's body to come home.

In the days that followed, I realised that we were not going to be able to perform a search and retrieval mission of the bodies of Gina and Lama right now. The reason was that it was a very high risk of further avalanches and poor weather conditions for flying helicopter.

However, after talking to several people on the ground in Nepal, we think we might be able to get admission to search and repatriate the bodies of Lama and Gina in spring next year. A mission like this is expensive. We need a qualified team, helicopter and proper equipment. Both Lama and Gina were wearing Recco reflectors, so we think we will be able to locate them if we can just fly over the area with the Recco detector.

Estimated budget

Please note that this GoFundme is in NOK because I am Norwegian. The money collected with be solely used for the mission of search and repatriation.

TOTAL : 287,600.00 USD (approx. 3,19 M NOK)

If the budget is not fully spent

If we spend less than the estimated budget, we will donate the rest of the proceeds to The Juniper Fund.

In this GoFundMe we are not funding the retrieval the bodies of Anna and Migmar, as we have agreed with Nimsdai's team to separate the tasks into 2 missions as they are slightly different in nature. Anna and Migmar are situated at a known location and the mission is only to fetch them. But, Gina and Lama need to be found before we can retrieve them.

Thank you for all your support.