Hillary Dawa Sherpa Rescued Alive After Crawling Down Mount Everest Near Khumbu Icefall

A Sherpa guide identified as Hillary Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa after Edmund Hillary, was found alive on Thursday after going missing on Mount Everest and crawling toward base camp.

“'Astonishing': Sherpa missing for 6 days on Mount Everest found alive The sherpa found crawling down an ice flow near the Everest base camp”

ABC News

The Guardian said Dawa Sherpa was last seen on 29 May but did not reach base camp with other climbing groups, and it reported that a helicopter rescue team had failed to find him before he was located near the Khumbu icefall just above base camp.

ABC News

Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, which coordinated the search, said the climbing support team found him as he crawled down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu icefall, and that he had frostbite on his hands but appeared to be in good health.

The BBC reported that Dawa Sherpa was last seen above Camp 3 at around 7,500m (24,600ft) while coming down the mountain after summiting, and that a cleaning crew spotted him sliding slowly down through the Khumbu Icefall.

After being carried down to safety, he was flown by rescue helicopter to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter had already begun funeral rituals.

Dawa Sherpa’s family had begun funeral rituals after he was missing, and his wife, Damu Sherpa, told the Guardian, "We first heard that he was still alive on the local news," after he was located.

The BBC quoted Pemba Sherpa saying, "This is a true self-rescue," as the cleaning crew spotted Dawa Sherpa sliding and crawling down the Khumbu Icefall toward base camp.

Associated Press

ABC News said Dawa Sherpa was discovered by a garbage collection team that spotted him "sliding and crawling" down an icefall just above Everest base camp, and it described the find as an "astonishing" testament of human survival.

Reuters, as relayed by NewsRadio 570 WKBN, reported that Dawa Sherpa’s daughter, Mhendo Lhamo Sherpa, told Reuters, "He recognised me … is good and speaks. We are happy," after visiting him at Kathmandu’s HAMS Hospital.

The search was coordinated by 8K Expeditions, and the team that spotted him was part of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which lays the ladders and ropes on the route at the start of each climbing season and then removes the equipment and cleans up the site after climbers have left.

Dawa Sherpa’s survival unfolded during a season described as the busiest ever on Everest, with more than 1,000 climbers and their guides scaling Everest this May, according to The Guardian.

“Miracle on Everest: Guide believed dead spotted crawling down ice A Nepali climbing guide thought to have died on Mount Everest has been found crawling down to Base Camp, six days after he was last seen alive”

BBC

The Guardian reported that the season began late because of a huge ice block on the route just above the base camp that took about two weeks to clear, and it said five people have died this season.

The BBC similarly said more than 1,000 reached the Everest summit this season, making it the busiest on record, and it reported that five people have died so far in this year’s climbing, three of them Nepalis involved in Everest preparations.

The Guardian also noted that mountaineering experts often criticize authorities for allowing large numbers of climbers on the mountain, which can lead to risky jams or long queues in the "death zone" area where oxygen levels are insufficient for sustained human survival.

In the wake of the rescue, the Guardian quoted Ang Tshering Sherpa saying, "This is nothing short of a miracle surviving so many days on the mountains facing such harsh conditions," underscoring the stakes for guides and climbers as tourism traffic continues on the world’s highest peak.