Nepali mountaineer who survived for nearly a week on Mount Everest without food has revealed that he stayed alive by chewing ice as he battled freezing conditions before a dramatic rescue.
Dawa Sherpa, 57, is recovering in hospital after he was rescued from the upper slopes of the world’s highest mountain, where he had been stranded since May 30 during one of the last expeditions of the spring climbing season.
The experienced climber disappeared in harsh weather conditions after running out of oxygen near the summit. Believing he had died, his family had already begun traditional mourning prayers.
Reflecting on his ordeal from his hospital bed on Friday, Dawa Sherpa told BBC Nepali: “I didn’t think I would be alive.
“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.”
Trapped in extreme cold close to Everest’s notorious “death zone”, where oxygen levels are dangerously low, the mountaineer said he survived with little food and water.
“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.
According to him, a few chocolates and snacks left in his pockets helped him stay alive.
“I soaked them in water and had them,” he said.
Dawa Sherpa, popularly known as “Hillary” in honour of renowned climber Edmund Hillary, said he also survived a fall into a crevasse during the ordeal.
“Stepping on the snow, I stood up and looked above… It felt like I could get out from there,” he said.
“I then looked for ropes and found one. Then I held on to it and walked… eventually I came down.”
After escaping the crevasse, he continued moving towards the Everest base camp, walking day and night until he finally came across rescuers nearly a week later.
He was discovered crawling towards the base camp on June 4 by members of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a team responsible for maintaining climbing routes and clearing waste on Everest.
“Boys from SPCC were going up to collect the waste. I met them. They carried me down.”
Following the rescue, he was airlifted to Kathmandu, where doctors treated him for severe dehydration, frostbite and a fractured thigh bone.
His daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, confirmed that he is responding well to treatment.
“He is doing well. We had a chat,” his daughter Mendo Lhamu Sherpa told AFP.
The remarkable survival story has drawn praise from climbers and mountaineering enthusiasts. However, some relatives have criticised rescue efforts, arguing that he should have been found earlier.
President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Fur Gelje Sherpa, described the incident as extraordinary but said it raised concerns about safety practices on the mountain.
“It is irresponsible and inhumane to leave a person behind,” he said. “I believe that an investigation committee must be formed to hold the responsible people accountable for this.”
Everest guide Rinji Sherpa, who hails from the same village as Dawa Sherpa, said the climber’s experience played a role in his survival.
“He is very lucky; he has had several close calls before, but he has survived,” he said.
At least five climbers, including two Indians and three Nepalis, lost their lives during this year’s Everest climbing season.
Preliminary figures released by the Nepali government show that more than 1,000 climbers reached the summit this season, making it the busiest Everest season on record.
(AFP)
