Sudden snowfall near high-altitude Badimalika temple in Nepal blocks travelers
In Nepal's Bajaur district, soldiers from the Ishwari Baksh battalion found the body of 20-year-old Manish Bokhara near Triveni Patan. The young man, who lived in the Bedkot municipality, went missing while traveling to the Badimalika pilgrimage site. District chief Muktiram Rijal said that prolonged bad weather, snowfall and sub-zero temperatures likely led to the boy's death.
Another hiker, Sagar Karki, 21, was found and evacuated by helicopter in Martadi by rescue workers. He had been sheltering in the Triveni-Patan area since Friday after heavy snowfall completely cut off his return route from the Badimalika temple, located at an altitude of 4,200 meters.
A total of five people set out for the sanctuary from the district headquarters of Martadi on October 26. Three participants from eastern Nepal managed to return earlier, while two young people from Sudurpaschim province were stranded in the highlands due to bad weather.
Source: Young trekker found dead after going missing near Nepal's Badimalika temple - The Star
Context
Badimalika Sanctuary is located on a hilltop at an altitude of about 4,200 meters above sea level in the Sudurpaschim province in the far west of Nepal. Unlike the popular trekking routes around Annapurna or Everest, this area is almost devoid of tourist infrastructure: there are no permanent guest houses or equipped huts, and the climb through high-altitude alpine meadows (“pathans”) requires complete autonomy in equipment and food.
The Triveni-Patan plateau is a key stop on the approach to the temple. This open terrain is extremely vulnerable to sudden changes in weather: even outside the winter season, the high ridges are often covered by sudden frosts and snowfalls, which instantly hide the trail among the grassy slopes.