A Nepali guide who was presumed dead on Mount Everest has been found alive, crawling towards base camp nearly a week after going missing, and after his funeral rites had begun.
Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa, was last seen on 29 May in the 'death zone' above 7,200 metres. A helicopter search failed to locate the 52-year-old, but a climbing support team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him on Thursday morning as he crawled down the Khumbu icefall near base camp.
He had frostbite on his hands but was otherwise in good health. He was carried to safety, given food and water, and flown to a hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter had already begun funeral rituals. 'We first heard that he was still alive on the local news,' said his wife, Damu Sherpa.
Dawa Sherpa's teenage daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, said they were on the second day of a traditional multi-day funeral ritual. 'When we first heard about it, we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father. So to be certain we asked for photos to be sent and then only we were sure and very happy.'
Chris Thrall, a British climber and former Royal Marine, had earlier posted a video tribute to Dawa Sherpa, believing he had died. Thrall recalled seeing the guide sit for a rest on the descent and saying he was fine. Thrall later found Dawa Sherpa's Polish client without oxygen and with frostbite, and helped him down.
Nepal's mountaineering community has hailed the survival as miraculous. 'This is nothing short of a miracle surviving so many days on the mountains facing such harsh conditions,' said Ang Tshering Sherpa. 'Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains. If there was someone else in his place, they might not have survived.'
