The family and friends of an Okanagan man presumed missing on the snow and avalanche plagued Annapurna circuit in Nepal are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning.
Matt Adams, 29, touched base with his family in West Kelowna after a week of silence Thursday morning, and he is OK.
“(He) is in Manang and had no idea that the snow was an international story,” said his mother, Heather. “He didn’t need to be rescued and was at the Tilcho lake base camp.”
Adams is one of the lucky ones. At least 28 people have died on the key Nepali hiking route, and there are fears the final toll will be higher.
Reports indicate that nine bodies were found on Thursday and about 220 people have been rescued, but many are still missing.
The high volume of casualties has to do with the fact that blizzards struck at the height of the Himalayan climbing season.
Most of the deaths happened when a blizzard hit a point on the Annapurna Circuit, a well-known trekking route in central Nepal.
The bad weather hit a resting place 4,500m (14,800ft) above sea level, not far below the circuit’s highest point, the Thorung La pass.
