Nepali climber Dawa Sherpa is out of intensive care after surviving six days in freezing conditions on Everest, his family said.
A Nepali climber who survived six days on Mount Everest after disappearing near the end of the spring climbing season has been moved out of intensive care and is recovering in a Kathmandu hospital, his family said Tuesday.
Dawa Sherpa, 57, was found Thursday morning crawling toward Base Camp after vanishing May 30 in harsh conditions on the upper slopes of the world’s highest mountain. He was airlifted to Kathmandu, where doctors have been treating him for frostbite, severe dehydration and a fractured thigh bone.
His relative, Nuru Sherpa, told AFP that Dawa Sherpa had been shifted from the ICU to a ward, was able to speak a little and was eating. Doctors were continuing to monitor his hands and legs, the relative said.
The recovery update followed Dawa Sherpa’s account from his hospital bed of a climb that turned into a fight for survival in the extreme cold and thin air near Everest’s “death zone,” where oxygen levels are dangerously low.
“I thought I would perish this way. I didn't get lost. As the oxygen ran out, I fell behind. After the oxygen finished, I couldn't walk,” he told BBC Nepali. He said he went without food for the first two days before chewing ice, and later survived on a few chocolates and snacks he had in his pockets.
Dawa Sherpa, who is also known as “Hillary” after Edmund Hillary, told others after his rescue that he had fallen into a crevasse. He was eventually found still moving slowly toward Base Camp by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a Nepali team involved in setting routes on Everest and removing waste from the mountain.
His survival has been met with relief among climbers, but it has also raised questions about why he was not found earlier. Maya Sherpa, president of the Everest Summiteers Association, told AFP that there had been “negligence in his case” and called for an investigation. The Nepal Mountaineering Association has also sought a government committee to examine what happened.
The incident comes after an especially crowded Everest season. Preliminary Nepali government figures show more than 1,000 climbers reached the summit, making it the busiest season on record, and the government collected more than $7 million in Everest climbing permit fees. Officials said 274 climbers summited from Nepal’s side on May 21 alone, setting a single-day record.
At least five climbers — two Indians and three Nepalis — died during this year’s Everest season. Kami Rita Sherpa, a prominent mountaineer, told AFP that authorities should restrict the number of climbers allowed on the mountain, saying there should be a limit and that only qualified climbers should be permitted.
Dawa Sherpa’s condition remains under medical observation as calls grow for answers about the circumstances that left him stranded for days on Everest.
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