Tourist Dies, 40 Climbers Including Australian Rescued After Snowstorm On Ladakh’s Nun Kun Peaks
The trekkers were caught off guard on Sunday, when unexpected blizzards hit at the base of Nun Peak, towering over the Sanku and Pannikhar valleys.
Published : August 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM IST
Srinagar: Rescue personnel weathered blinding snowstorms and temperatures below zero this week while rescuing almost 40 climbers stranded at the perilous Nun Kun Summit Trek in Kargil district, said officials Friday.
The trekkers were caught off guard on August 24, when unexpected blizzards hit at the base of Nun Peak, one of the twin peaks of the Nun Kun massif towering over the Sanku and Pannikhar valleys. At least 64 trekkers, foreign and local, had ventured out in six teams in preparation for ascending the 7,135-metre (23,409-foot) peak.
“Two teams managed by Shakar Travels had also marched from the base camp and were heading for the advance camp when the snowstorm struck,” a senior police official said on condition of anonymity.
“Weather conditions quickly went downhill, with gusts of winds, zero visibility and anywhere from zero to five inches of snow in spots. That was when we sought help from the Union Territory Disaster Response Force.”
The joint effort included Kargil Police, UTDRF, and Anjuman Sahib Zaman's Basij Baqiyatullah volunteers, who walked for hours through treacherous, snow-covered slopes for more than six hours to be able to locate the stranded mountaineers.
One of those rescued was Cedric Saldanha, a 52-year-old Australian, who was found ill with altitude sickness and frostbite. Officials said he was given urgent medical treatment at a local facility and discharged once stable.
“He (Cedric) had just celebrated his birthday in Ladakh two days before the incident,” stated the police officer, “but not everyone stayed alive.” Without naming the deceased, police officials confirmed that a male tourist from Jharkhand died after being caught in the heavy snowfall at the Nun Peak base.
The rescue operation was challenging, according to Syed Abbas Rizvi, a former executive councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, who was part of the operation.
“We received the call from Kargil Police on August 27; our volunteers launched a selfless rescue effort at the Nun Kun advance camp. “We always work in coordination with the local administration as extra hands,” Rizvi said. “It was extremely difficult to trek in three to five inches of snow, but we managed to save the climbers trapped higher up. Tragically, we also found the body of one tourist. We continued until the last stranded climber was brought down safely. I was also part of the operation, and my vehicle was used to rescue stranded tourists.”
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