Kathmandu: A 38-year-old Nepali climber, who summited Mount Everest several times has died on the peak, expedition organisers informed on Friday. The deceased, Ngimi Tenji Sherpa, was identified as the first fatality on the world’s highest mountain this climbing season, and was found found dead early Thursday.
The body on a trail close to an area known as the ‘football field’, a relatively safe region of the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. ‘His body has been brought down. There were no accidents, and initial medical check suggests high-altitude sickness’, said Pasang Tsering Sherpa of Beyul Adventures, the local partner of US-based expedition company International Mountain Guides. Sherpa was carrying equipment uphill to Camp 2 and was found in a sitting position, still wearing his backpack.
About a third of deaths on Everest are Nepali guides and porters, underscoring the risk they take for the dreams of hundreds of paying climbers aiming to reach the top of the world’s highest peak. Most climbers attempting to summit the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) mountain do so with the help of at least one guide. For each expedition, many more make several dangerous trips to ferry tents, food and oxygen bottles to high-altitude camps.
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Thursday’s incident follows the death of a Greek climber on the 8,167-metre (26,795-foot) Dhaulagiri on Tuesday. Antonios Sykaris, 59, fell ill while descending from the summit of the world’s seventh-highest mountain and died at an altitude of 7,400 metres. Nepal, home to eight of the world’s highest peaks, sees hundreds of adventurers during the spring climbing season, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm. Nepal’s government has already issued permits to 689 mountaineers for the season, including 250 for Everest.
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