Global Courant 2023-05-31 17:42:47
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepalese Sherpa guide pulled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a “very rare” high-altitude rescue, a government official said on Wednesday.
Gelje Sherpa, 30, was escorting a Chinese client to the 8,849-meter Everest summit on May 18 when he spotted the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from the extreme cold in the area dubbed the “death zone,” where temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (86F) or lower.
Gelje dragged the climber 600 meters (1,900 feet) down from the balcony to the South Col, over a period of about six hours, where Nima Tahi Sherpa, another guide, joined the rescue.
“We wrapped the climber in a sleeping mat, dragged him through the snow or took turns carrying him on our backs to Camp III,” said Gelje.
A helicopter lifted him from the 7,162 meter high Camp III to the base camp using a long line.
“It’s almost impossible to rescue climbers at that height,” Tourism Ministry official Bigyan Koirala told Reuters. “It’s a very rare operation.”
Gelje said he convinced his Chinese client to give up trying to summit and descend the mountain, saying it was important to him to save the climber.
“Saving one life is more important than praying at the monastery,” says Gelje, a devout Buddhist.
Tashi Lakhpa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks company, which provided logistics for the Malaysian climber, declined to give his name, citing his client’s privacy. The climber was put on a flight to Malaysia last week.
Nepal has issued a record 478 Everest permits during the climbing season from March to May this year.
At least 12 climbers have died – the most in eight years, and another five are still missing from Everest’s slopes.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
