Avalanche on Manaslu. Ski Mountaineering Expedition Swept Away

14:21 UPDATE: Just got a call from Glen Plake who told me this: "I'm OK, a bit beat up; missing some teeth and a bruised eye but write in big capital letters, GLEN PLAKE IS ALIVE AND HE'S COMING HOME.

It was a major, major accident. There are up to 14 people missing. There were 25 tents at Camp 3 [6800m] and all of them were destroyed, 12 tents at Camp 2 [6300m] were banged up and moved around. Greg and I were in a tent together, Rémy was in another. It was 4:45a and I was in my sleeping bag with my headlamp on reading my devotional when we heard a roar. Greg looked at me and said, "That was a big gust of wind," then a second later, "No, that was an avalanche." Then it hit us. I was swept 300 meters over a serac and down the mountain and came to a stop still in my sleeping bag, still inside the tent. We all went to sleep with avalanche transceivers on so I punched my way out of the tent and started searching. Searched for 10 minutes when I realized I was barefoot. Greg was using my down suit for a pillow and I found my suit, I found everything that was in my tent – camera, sleeping bag, ski boots, it was like someone had thrown my gear in the back of a pickup – but there was no sign of Greg. Rémy and his tent are nowhere to be found.

The Dynafit crew were sleeping at a high Camp 2 and were immediately on site to rescue people. Sergio, Stephane, Doji our Sherpa – all strong alpinists – have all come up to search. We've done three searches and when the fog rolled in we had to call it off.

It was a massive serac fall, probably 600 to 700 meters across. It's a war zone up here."

23 September 2012, Manaslu Camp 3 (6800m) – The worst of phone calls came through a few minutes ago when Kimberly Plake called. "There's been a massive avalanche at Camp 3. Glen's OK but he told me, 'Rémy and Greg are gone.'"

Glen told Kimberly that he thought there were around 16 climbers in Camp 3 (6800m) and that he was in his tent reading his Bible when a massive avalanche ripped through the camp. Glen was rescued from a crevasse by Canadian skier Greg Hill's team who were helping him down the mountain when he called.

Greg Hill reports on his Facebook page that his team are all OK.

Factual information is sketchy but police officials report that rescuers have recovered the bodies of a German guide and Nepalese guide and that seven other bodies have been spotted. Around 13 are believed to be missing. Other reports indicate that between five to eight injured climbers had been evacuated by helicopter to Katmandu before rescue efforts were called off due to bad weather.

Please keep Rémy Lécluse and Greg Costa along with their friends and family in your thoughts and prayers. With hope, they might be some of the climbers that were flown to Katmandu.

I'll continue to update this post as news comes in.