Everest guide found alive after six days missing on mountain

A Nepali mountaineering guide, missing on Mount Everest for nearly a week and feared dead, has been found alive, surprising rescue teams and fellow climbers.

Hillary Dawa Sherpa, an experienced high-altitude guide, went missing on May 30 while descending from the summit of the world’s highest peak, News.Az reports, citing MinuteMirror.

After six days without contact, hopes of finding him alive had largely faded. However, on Thursday morning, members of a local Everest support team spotted Sherpa slowly making his way back toward Base Camp.

According to rescue officials, Sherpa was discovered crawling down the mountain after surviving alone in the harsh conditions of Everest’s upper slopes. A helicopter was immediately dispatched to airlift him to Kathmandu for medical treatment.

The dramatic survival story comes after British climber Chris Thrall, who reached the summit alongside Sherpa, publicly mourned his presumed death earlier this week. Thrall said the pair had successfully climbed Everest on May 29 before beginning their descent.

He recalled that Sherpa stopped to rest near Camp Four, located just below Everest’s notorious “death zone,” where oxygen levels are critically low. Believing Sherpa would soon continue as he had done many times before, Thrall proceeded down the mountain.

During his descent, Thrall encountered a stranded Polish climber suffering from frostbite and a shortage of supplemental oxygen. Faced with a life-or-death decision, he chose to assist the distressed climber, sharing his own oxygen supply and helping him descend to safety.

The rescue effort proved extremely challenging due to severe weather and difficult climbing conditions. What would normally take a few hours stretched into an exhausting 11-hour descent, highlighting the dangers mountaineers faced this season.

Search teams later launched an operation to locate Sherpa, but no trace of him was found until his remarkable reappearance near Base Camp on Thursday.

The incident occurred during the final days of Everest’s climbing season, a period when fewer climbers remain on the mountain. Despite the risks, the season has been one of the busiest in Everest’s history, with more than 1,000 climbers reportedly reaching the summit.

At least five people lost their lives during this year’s climbing season, underscoring the dangers that persist even as record numbers attempt to conquer the world’s tallest mountain.

Sherpa’s survival against overwhelming odds is being hailed as one of the most extraordinary stories of endurance and resilience ever witnessed on Mount Everest.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli