A group of San Diego mountain climbers who were trapped on a mountain in Nepal following Saturday’s earthquake have been rescued.
Kathleen Heldman and her husband Kevin Krough were on a month-long trip with friends Oscar Olea and Brigida Martinez to climb Mount Ganchempo when the earthquake hit. An avalanche wiped out a village below the mountain, leaving them trapped in Kyanjin Gompa in the Langtang region. It also left them very low on supplies.
Kathleen’s sister, Caroline Heldman, who resides in Ocean Beach, confirmed to 10News overnight Tuesday that the four were evacuated by a military helicopter. Caroline was able to speak to her sister early Wednesday morning by phone. The climbers were taken to the region of Dunche.
Their next step will be to be to get to the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, which is about 20 miles away. From there they can try and leave country.
Meanwhile, a group of 16 doctors and nurses with Scripps is set to depart for Nepal later this week. They will work in a field hospital there for a period of about three weeks.
