02/09/2026
7 days after the flood in Nepal, this is my understanding of what happenend in the Rasuwa valley of Langtang National park. All photos were taken before the disaster.
North-East of the Nepal-Tibet border of Rasuwa, on the Chinese side of the Langtang Lirung Himal (7'200m), a massive piece of glacier fell over 1'300 vertical metres into the valley below, from 5'100m to 3'800m of altitude, gaining monstrous amounts of momentum and kinetic energy. From that moment, the fate of the villages downstream were sealed and the wave was unstoppable.
The ice and rock landslide was fueled by a high altutude lake, adding millions of litres of water to the rolling wave. I have read unconfirmed reports that the lake is still partially blocked and presents the danger of a second wave which may be released in the coming days.
After encountering the lake, the wave reached the Nepal-TIbet border. Here it split, climbing over 3km North uphill towards Tibet while most of the flood descended South downhill along the Trishuli river and towards Nepal, further gaining momentum, mass and debris.
As a result of the wave, the border police building between Nepal and Tibet has been razed, 7 hydroelectric power plants and their dams were damaged (2 completely deleted, rappresenting approx 10% of the electricity production of Nepal), all bridges in the Rasuwa valley are gone, dozens of villages have been severely hit, over 1'000 people are confirmed casualties and 4'000 more are missing.
The scale of the disaster is un-heard-of. Further updates in the next post.
[ mountain, Himalaya, snow, trekking, nature, active, mountaineering ]
