A US climber has died on Mount Everest, his expedition organizer said yesterday, the first foreign death on the highest mountain in the world this season.
The 69-year-old mountaineer was on an acclimatization rotation at about 6,400m when he died on Monday.
“He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2. Efforts are under way to bring [back] his body,” Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure told reporters.
Photo: AFP
Sherpa said that bad weather was hampering the recovery efforts.
Beyul Adventure is a local partner of US-based expedition organizer International Mountain Guides (IMG).
“It is with deep sorrow that IMG reports the death of one of our Everest 2023 team members at Camp 2,” IMG chief executive officer Eric Simonson said in a statement on the company’s Web site.
“We can confirm that this event was not the result of a climbing accident or route condition that would be of potential impact or safety concern to any other teams on the mountain,” he said.
The spring Everest climbing season had a tragic start last month with the death of three Nepalese climbers.
The trio were crossing the treacherous Khumbu icefall as part of a supply mission when a block of glacial ice fell and swept them into a deep crevasse.
Nepal has issued 466 permits to foreign climbers and as most need a guide, more than 900 people are expected to try to summit this season, which runs until early next month.
This could result in heavy traffic and bottlenecks en route to the summit, especially if there is a shorter climbing window because of unfavorable weather.
On average, about five climbers die every year on the world’s highest peak.
Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.
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