Yeti

The Abominable Snowman, more commonly known as the Yeti, is a legendary apelike creature said to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range of Asia. Over the past two centuries, this figure has become an enduring element of both Himalayan folklore and global popular culture. Although numerous alleged sightings, tracks and anecdotal accounts have been publicised, no scientifically verified evidence has confirmed the creature’s existence. Scholars generally attribute Yeti lore to a combination of indigenous belief systems, misidentified wildlife and the transmission of regional myths.

Physical Descriptions and Characteristics

Descriptions of the Yeti typically depict a large, bipedal, apelike being covered in grey, brown or white hair. Reports commonly describe a creature with pronounced fangs, broad shoulders and a powerful gait adapted to rugged alpine terrain. Footprints attributed to the Yeti are often described as humanlike but larger, sometimes measuring several inches in length and found at altitudes where human presence is rare.
Tibetan and Himalayan traditions recognise several types of Yeti-like beings:

• Nyalmo: A large and fierce black-furred creature described as reaching heights of around fifteen feet.
• Chuti: A smaller variety, about eight feet tall, believed to inhabit high-altitude regions.
• Rang Shim Bombo: A reddish-brown variety thought to be considerably smaller than the Chuti.

These distinctions often reflect a blend of myth, local interpretation and encounters with wildlife such as Himalayan brown bears or yaks, which may produce tracks or silhouettes readily misinterpreted in snowy conditions.

Etymology and Alternative Names

The term Yeti derives from Tibetan elements associated with rocky places and bears. Variants of the words ti, te and teh have been linked to the Tibetan spoken form tre (or dred), meaning bear. Linguistic studies suggest that the soft pronunciation of the consonant r creates a sound close to te, offering insight into the development of the term.
Himalayan cultures use multiple names to refer to similar beings:

• Mich, translating as ‘man-bear’, used for legendary creatures resembling both humans and bears.
• Dzuteh, meaning ‘cattle-bear’, linked to the Himalayan brown bear.
• Migoi or Migo, signifying ‘wild man’.
• Bun Manchi, a Nepali term meaning ‘jungle man’.
• Kang Admi, translated as ‘snow man’.
• Jungli Admi, meaning ‘wild man’.
• Xueren, a Chinese designation translating to ‘snow man’.

These names illustrate the widespread cultural imprint of wild-man folklore throughout the Himalayan region and neighbouring territories.

Related Legends Beyond the Himalayas

Myths of large bipedal humanoids are not limited to the Himalayan region. In Siberian folklore, the Chuchuna is described as a dark-haired figure standing six to seven feet tall, associated with nomadic Yakut and Tungusic peoples. According to regional narratives, this creature resembles a Neanderthal-like man clad in pelts and marked by a distinctive white patch of fur on the forearms. Some accounts portray the Chuchuna as dangerous, occasionally consuming human flesh, and certain reports note a tail on its corpse. Similarities between such tales and the Yeti legend reveal a shared global fascination with hidden humanoid beings, mirrored also in stories of Bigfoot in North America.

The Origin of the Term “Abominable Snowman”

The expression Abominable Snowman entered English usage in 1921 following the British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition led by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Howard-Bury. During the expedition, mysterious footprints were discovered on the Lhagba La pass. Howard-Bury attributed them to a wolf whose tracks had doubled in the soft snow, creating impressions resembling those of a barefoot human. However, Sherpa guides suggested the tracks belonged to the “Wild Man of the Snows,” a being they named metoh-kangmi, often translated as ‘man-bear snowman’.
Subsequent linguistic analysis shows confusion around the word metch, used later in some accounts but considered linguistically implausible in Tibetan. Scholars propose that metch arose from a misreading of metoh. The phrase Abominable Snowman appears to have been popularised by journalist Henry Newman, writing under the pen name Kim. In retelling the expedition’s stories, Newman interpreted metoh as ‘filthy’ and replaced it with the more dramatic term abominable, contributing to widespread adoption of the name in Western media.

Early Beliefs and Religious Contexts

Before the spread of Buddhism in the Himalayas, several communities held beliefs centred on a supernatural glacier-dwelling being. Among the Lepcha people, the Yeti-like figure was revered as a deity associated with hunting. In the Bon tradition, the blood of a wild man—referred to as mi rgod—was believed to possess spiritual significance during rituals.
With the advent of Tibetan Buddhism, Yeti figures became incorporated into religious narratives as nonhuman animals that exhibited humanlike qualities, occasionally depicted as assistants or disciples of spiritual teachers. Ceremonial processions in some regions have included Yeti imagery intended to ward off malevolent spirits. Despite this protective role, sightings were traditionally considered bad omens, requiring the accumulation of spiritual merit to counteract perceived misfortune.

Nineteenth-Century Reports

Western interest in the Yeti expanded during the nineteenth century as explorers and surveyors travelled through the Himalayas. One of the earliest documented accounts appeared in 1832, when Brian Houghton Hodgson reported that his Nepalese guides observed a tall, hair-covered bipedal creature fleeing through the forest. Hodgson suggested the animal was likely an orangutan, though such primates are not native to the Himalayan region.
In 1899, Laurence Waddell recorded stories of large apelike creatures and examined footprints claimed to belong to such beings. Waddell’s analysis concluded that the prints had probably been made by a bear, and he expressed scepticism after finding no reliable eyewitness testimony from local inhabitants.

Twentieth-Century Encounters and Reports

The twentieth century brought an increase in Yeti-related claims, partly due to intensified mountaineering activities in the Himalayas. As expeditions reached higher elevations, reports of unusual tracks or sightings became more frequent.
In 1925, member of the Royal Geographical Society N. A. Tombazi observed a dark, upright figure at high altitude near the Zemu Glacier. He described the creature as humanlike in outline and unclothed, seen from a considerable distance. Later, he and his team found bipedal footprints in the snow, approximately several inches in length and narrower than typical human tracks.
Further encounters were reported in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1937, John Hunt and Pasang Sherpa encountered footprints near the Zemu Gap believed by some to indicate the presence of a pair of Yetis. In 1944, explorer C. R. Cooke and his party discovered unusually large bipedal tracks near the Singalila Ridge. Their porters identified the prints as belonging to the Jungli Admi, or wild man, and photographs were taken to document their dimensions.