10 Nov, 2025
Kathmandu, Nepal - Simrik Air successfully carried out a high-altitude Search and Rescue Mission on Mount Yalung Ri, in Dolakha district's Rolwaling Valley, after an avalanche on Kartik 18 (November 4). The avalanche had caused three foreigners and two Nepali guides to go missing.
The Pilot-in-command was Captain Surendra Poudel, and the rescue technicians were Tshiring Pandey Bhote and Uttam Chaudhary. Although the weather and environmental conditions were very harsh, Simrik Air carried out the rescue mission at an elevation of approximately 5,500 meters. Continuous search missions were deployed over several days.
Simrik Air crew members had been armed with RECCO search technology and assisted an international rescue team headed by Captain Manuel Munari, Michele Cucci, and Bruno Zelck, who are well-known mountain guides and rescue experts. Moreover, four Sherpa guides who were certified as IFMGA/NNMGA were crucial to the ground operations.
It was a mission that was carried out on November 6-8 and is considered as perhaps the first-ever high-altitude rescue in Nepal using RECCO SAR equipment by the experts. The operations base was established in the Dolakha village of Na, where the technical preparation, logistics, and fueling were done.
The operation was a joint effort between Simrik Air (air transport and search operations), Heli Everest (logistics and transport), AviA MEA International Rescue Team, and local IFMGA/NNMGA Sherpa guides, with further support from Earth Sea-Air (Switzerland), RECCO AB (Sweden), and Asian Trekking (Nepal).
Simrik Air expressed gratitude to all partners and reaffirmed its continued commitment to conducting high-altitude search, rescue, and recovery missions across Nepal’s most challenging mountainous terrains.
