Climber who spent 6 days dragging himself off Mount Everest is out of intensive care: “I thought I would perish”

A Nepali mountaineer who spent six days dragging himself off Mount Everest after being abandoned has been moved out of intensive care as he slowly recovers, his family said Tuesday. The update came after the climber said from his hospital bed that he thought he would die on the world’s highest peak.

His improbable survival has sparked celebration among fellow climbers, but also anger from family members and the mountaineering community over the failure to locate him sooner.

Dawa Sherpa, 57, disappeared in brutal conditions on the upper slopes of the world’s tallest mountain on May 30 during one of the final climbs of the spring season.

He was found on Thursday morning, crawling towards Base Camp, and airlifted to Kathmandu, where doctors are treating him for frostbite, severe dehydration and a fractured thigh bone.

“He has been shifted from the ICU (intensive care unit) to the ward and treatment is ongoing — he is able to speak a little and is eating,” his relative, Nuru Sherpa, told AFP. “Doctors are observing his hands and legs for improvement.”

Left stranded in freezing temperatures near Everest’s “death zone,” where oxygen levels are critically low, Dawa Sherpa said he survived for days with almost no food or water.

“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 from his hospital bed.

“I didn’t eat anything for the first two days. Then I began chewing ice. It hurt my teeth. I chewed the ice hard,” he said.

He survived on a few chocolates and snacks he had in his pockets.

“Negligence in his case”

Dawa Sherpa, also known as “Hillary” like legendary climber Edmund Hillary, told others after his rescue that he had fallen into a crevasse.

But he crawled on and was found still slowly moving toward the Base Camp by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a Nepali team that helps set routes on Everest and clean up waste left behind.

“There has been negligence in his case,” Maya Sherpa, president of the Everest Summiteers Association, told AFP on Tuesday. “An investigation has to take place to find out what exactly happened so that such incidents are not repeated.”

The Nepal Mountaineering Association has called for a government committee to investigate the incident.

At least five climbers — two Indians and three Nepalis — died during this year’s Everest season.

“There should be a limit”

More than 1,000 climbers reached Everest’s summit, according to preliminary Nepali government figures, making it the busiest season on record.

The government collected more than $7 million from issuing climbing permits for Everest.

Climbers set a record on May 21, when 274 of them successfully ascended Nepal’s side of the mountain in a single day, officials said. Experts have warned of the potential dangers of overcrowding, especially after two climbers died around the time of that record-setting day. 

Increasing popularity not only increases congestion on the mountain, but also means less experienced climbers are more likely to be among the groups attempting the trek, one sherpa told AFP.  

“There is a need for authorities to control this number,” Kami Rita Sherpa said. “They should let in only climbers of quality — there should be a limit.”