Promising Nepali boy ski racer disappears in French Alps

30 April 2009

The youngest member of the Nepalese Ski Team that attracted widespread international media attention at their inaugural appearance in the World Ski Championships at Val D’Isere in February has disappeared in the French Alps. Uttam Rayamajhi (17) vanished from the team ski base at Les Arcs on Monday with no money, minimal French and very little clothing. He has not been seen or heard from since and team members fear for his safety.

The youngster was a particularly promising ski racer. In his first full season of training at the Nepal team base he achieved remarkable results and greatly impressed the army of journalists that followed the team in training at the World Championships. Although he did not compete at Val D’Isere he finished 4th in his age group at the Grand Prix du Villaroger in March and displayed immense promise.

Uttam was particularly looking forwards to competing at the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan where his trainer believes he stood an excellent chance of becoming the strongest member of the squad. He was extremely athletic, brave and strong and he learnt the skills of ski racing faster than any athlete previously at the training base. Unfortunately his hopes of future competition and an athletic career were shattered when the team became involved in a bitter funding dispute with the Nepal Olympic Committee after they denied top Nepali ski racer, Shyam Dhakal (27), any benefit from the $29,000 Olympic Solidarity scholarship he was awarded last November.

Former Royal Navy skier Richard Morley (54) who has personally developed, funded and trained the team since 1997, was subsequently dismissed as team manager by the Nepal Olympic Committee when he filed a complaint to the International Olympic Committee concerning the handling of the scholarship. No new manager or sponsor was appointed and the whole team was faced with disintegration after years of work and sacrifice. Over the following five weeks young Uttam became increasingly depressed about his circumstances. He had sacrificed two years of school education to train as a skier after meeting senior Nepali officials in 2006 but the dispute left him feeling abandoned and misled by his sporting authorities.

On 15 April he wrote on Facebook, ‘Life is getting difficult. So many things are happening around me but thinking hopeless in life and moving in the path which is I don’t know but I am waiting for the result. Like this my days are going.’ Shortly afterwards he was approached by Jehovas Witnesses and recruited into their church. The day after attending his first service with the sect he vanished from the team’s mountain chalet home during a heavy rain storm. Despite extensive efforts by the police at Bourg St Maurice, no trace of him has been found.