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I Survived A Deadly Mount Everest Avalanche And It Changed My Life Forever
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“I could not tell if I was tumbling forward or backward. Instinct took over.” The author (left) and her mom at her parents 30th anniversary party, the day after her mom was diagnosed with ALS (2004). The author with Tendi Sherpa at Everest Base Camp in 2015. Sherpa is widely regarded as one of the most respected guides on Mount Everest. "This was the calm before the avalanche," the author writes. The author headed into the Khumbu at Everest. "I took this photo and almost froze my fingers doing so," she writes. Nicole LoBiondo is the author of the forthcoming memoir “Where the Air Grows Thin.” While caring for her mother through a seven-year battle with ALS — and in the years after her death — she climbed the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. Her work explores grief, resilience, ambition, and the complicated privilege of survival. This article originally appeared on HuffPost in May 2026.