A Nepali guide who was presumed dead on Mount Everest has been found alive, crawling towards base camp almost a week after he disappeared and after his funeral rites had started.
Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa, was last seen on 29 May in the 'death zone' above 7,200 metres. A climbing support team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee spotted him on Thursday morning near the Khumbu icefall, just above base camp. He had frostbite on his hands but was otherwise in good health and was quickly rescued.
His wife, Damu Sherpa, said they had begun funeral rituals after hearing no news. Their daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, added: 'When we first heard about it [the rescue], 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.'
Dawa Sherpa was guiding a Polish climber for a small Kathmandu-based company called Himalayan Traverse. British climber Chris Thrall, who had posted a video tribute believing Dawa Sherpa had died, said the guide had told him to continue down while he rested. Thrall later found the Polish client with no oxygen and frostbite and helped him down.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, a leading figure in Nepal's mountaineering community, called the survival 'nothing short of a miracle'. He said: 'Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains. If there was someone else in his place, they might not have survived.'
