ROCKLAND, Maine — James and Jeanie Schaden said the freak Himalayan blizzard that claimed the lives of at least 43 people on a mountain pass in Nepal last month was unbelievable, but it will not keep them from returning.
The Rockland couple, who were caught in the blizzard with more than 300 other hikers along one of the most popular trails around Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak, said they survived because they were prepared for bad weather and knew they had to keep moving to get down from the mountain pass during daylight.
James Schaden, 68, a retired engineer, and his wife, Jeanie Schaden, 66, are avid hikers who have trekked in various locales around the world, including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and, once before, four years ago in Nepal, they made it to a base camp at Mount Everest.
The couple was on the 10th day of a scheduled 17-day hike on the 128-mile long horseshoe shaped Annapurna Circuit in central Nepal when the blizzard struck. On sunny days, temperatures at the higher elevations in Nepal can still get into the 60s during the daytime but drop to below freezing at night. The Schadens had enjoyed beautiful weather with sun and warmth during the first nine days.
But on the 10th day, as they started up through the Thorong La pass, a gentle snow began falling. They passed by two young hikers from Israel who came out of a shelter to see snow for the first time. They would learn later that one of those two was among the victims of the blizzard.
The snow became more intense and the winds picked up as the couple forged ahead with the porter and Sherpa they had hired to accompany them. About an hour before they reached the approximate 17,800-foot summit of the Thorong La pass, the storm worsened.
“The storm just engulfed the mountain,” Jeanie Schaden. “The storm was intense, the visibility down, and the winds unbelievable.”
The bottled water the couple carried froze in the cold, and the whiteout conditions made it difficult to see the path ahead.
There were about 350 other trekkers trying to make their way up the pass at that point, the Schadens said. They explained that because of the narrowness of the path, turning back toward the base camp would have presented a logistical problem since they would have had to squeeze by all the other hikers still going in the opposite direction. In addition, she said the storm appeared to be as bad in either direction.
The Schadens were dressed with warm clothes and hiking boots, but many of the younger people on the trail were not as prepared. The skies are more typically clear in October, making it prime trekking season for backpackers as well as experienced climbers. The weather the couple encountered was so unexpected that it just caught many unawares. The two recalled how one young Nepali man on the trail was wearing only a slicker and tennis shoes.
As the storm worsened, the Schadens knew they had to press on and not take long breaks or they would end up being on the pass at night. They said they would only take a break of a few minutes every two hours by resting on their hiking poles. They started the hike up the pass in the middle of the long line of hikers, they said, but by the end were near the front.
The Schadens believe they were the oldest pair on the pass that day. But they prepared and stayed in shape this past summer by hiking in places such as Ragged Mountain in Camden and the western mountains of Maine and New Hampshire. They also took strengthening and conditioning training at the Samoset Resort health club near where they live.
And while the couple knew the storm was creating a serious situation, they knew that they were wearing the proper clothing. They also were confident with their experience and with their guides that they would be able to get through the pass safely.
Once the Schadens got to the summit, the descent was even more perilous because the terrain was steeper and ice covered. Hikers were falling, including themselves, but the two knew they had to get down off the pass before nightfall. Jeanie Schaden said there were times when trekkers were falling like dominoes, but the couple continued on, knowing that slowing down would be worse.
Schaden said some trekkers they passed at the summit and during the descent began to panic and called out to see if anyone had spare gloves they could have.
Not everyone kept pace, and some hikers took too long breaks. Other hikers also did not have experienced guides.
“We kept screaming, ‘Come on down with us, we know the way,’” she said, confident in the experience of their porter and Sherpa.
Normally, the nine-mile hike through the pass would take seven to eight hours, but it took the couple 12 hours, and they arrived at a small village of Muktinath at about 4 p.m. Darkness fell two hours later, and there were still many hikers on the pass.
The porter who accompanied the Schadens had gone through the pass 60 times and said he had never seen the weather that severe.
News of the disaster then started coming out slowly. The couple said they heard helicopters flying overhead the next morning and knew that people were in serious trouble. The first word was that three people had died.
They would eventually learn over the next several days that an avalanche occurred during the evening, claiming seven lives. Another 36 people perished in the freezing, whiteout conditions or died of injuries suffered in falls, the couple said. The Himalayan Rescue Association of Nepal reported that 518 people were rescued from the area by soldiers and civilian volunteers, some by helicopter, over the week after the storm.
The dead included Canadian, Indian, Israeli, Japanese, Nepalese, Polish and Slovak trekkers. It was the second mountain disaster in Nepal this year — 16 guides died in an avalanche in April on Mount Everest — and the worst since 42 people died in avalanches in the Mount Everest region in 1995, according to army officials.
The day after the storm, when the Schadens continued to hike down below the snow line, the weather was sunny as it had been during the first nine days of their trek.
The couple said it took them four days after the tragedy to reach a village where they could contact their son in New York City to inform him that they were safe.
Despite what happened, the couple said they will not hesitate to return to Nepal for another hiking trip. Jeanie Schaden said hiking around the Himalayas in Nepal provides the most beautiful views in the world.
“Absolutely, we will go again,” James Schaden said. “This was a rare event.”
Reuters news service contributed to this report.