By Alan Arnette3 min read

Annapurna 2025: Podcast with John Black on Sherpa Deaths

Annapurna 2025 Avalanche courtesy of John Black

As I previously reported, two Sherpas lost their lives when struck by an avalanche on the 8000er, Annapurna, on April 7, 2025. Ngima Tashi and Rima Rinje were swept into a deep crevasse between Camps 2 and 3. Four days later, Sherpas located their bodies using RECCO reflective technology after several helicopter searches proved unsuccessful. Retrieval was not attempted due to the bodies being inside a deep crevasse and the ongoing avalanche danger. In the Podcast are multiple still images from his climb, plus a video of the actual avalanche taken by John.

South African John Black, climbing with Pioneer Adventures, was one of the last climbers on the mountain to see them. His climbing partner, Warren Eva, summited while John turned back. The avalanche hit only ten minutes after John spoke with the climbing Sherpas.

In this podcast with John, we discuss the tragic incident, why John turned back while Warren kept going, the abnormally dry mountain conditions, the lack of fitness and experience shown by other climbers, and more. John summited Everest in 2009 with Russell Brice’s Himex company, so we discussed that experience and the legendary Brice. Lastly, we reminisce about his and Warren’s summit of K2 in 2022.

I hope you enjoy this podcast.

RECCO is a novel solution for finding buried skiers. In 1973, before any electronic aids existed, Sweed Magnus Granhed and his friends were left to search for skiers caught in an avalanche with their ski poles. Motivated to find a better solution, they developed a radar-based solution, the RECCO system.

RECCO Reflector in Pants
RECCO Reflector in Pants

Recco Demo

 

Like an avalanche beacon, a searcher must search for the reflector using a unique detector device weighing 1kg/2.2 pounds. The reflector does not require batteries, activation, or a subscription. It is often sewn into a skier’s clothing, usually their ski bibs, but there are attachable reflectors for helmets and backpacks that sell for $38.00. A RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector allows professional rescuers to perform rapid searches for missing people on a larger scale outdoors. Searching with 100-meter-wide corridors, the RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector can cover about 1 km2/0.39 miles within 6 minutes.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

Interview with John Black- Annapurna 2025

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The Podcast on alanarnette.com

You can listen to #everest2025 podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Breaker, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.

Previous Everest 2025 Season Coverage Posts

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7 thoughts on “Annapurna 2025: Podcast with John Black on Sherpa Deaths”

  1. John Black is a joke of a climber. Weak climber, inexperienced who didn’t summit and now is on a smear campaign. I saw his Explorers Web interview. Why are you even interviewing him? He has no idea what he’s talking about. Embittered man with a failed summit now lashing out and making excuses. Absolute loser. I summited Annapurna this year, have extensive mountaineering experience. I didn’t see a single “no mountaineering” experience climber. In fact, 6/10 in my group summited. 5/6 had done k2, all including myself had done everest. You’re destroying your credibility and the mountaineering community by interviewing negative losers like John Black.

    1. Wow, if you summited Anna, then you understand that each person makes their own decisions and is not in competition with others. I respect John for whatever he decides; besides, he did summit Everest and K2, so to say he’s a “loser” is somewhat misguided. Congratulations on your summit, and I hope you get many more.

  2. Have you seen the documentary “Sherpa”? It really doesn’t show Russell Bryce is a good light at all. Was very disturbing to watch. Wondered what your thoughts were x

    1. Yes and I thought it was very inaccurate and unfair. I witnessed Russ’s kind and generosity treatment for all his staff. I don’t know the creators of that documentary’s motive but while they got alot right, they missed the mark on their characterization of Russ.

  3. Do you have any interviews with Russel Brice taped to share? I have watched him for years

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