A United States mountaineer has died on Everest in the fourth fatality on the world’s highest peak this climbing season.
Jonathan Sugarman, 69, was on an acclimatisation rotation at around 6,400 metres (21,000 feet) when he died on Monday, his expedition organiser said.
“He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2. Efforts are underway to bring (back) his body,” Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure told AFP.
“We are trying to send a helicopter but it is snowing and the weather is not favourable,” he said.
Beyul Adventure is a local partner of US-based expedition organiser International Mountain Guides, which confirmed “with deep sorrow” Sugarman’s death.
“We can confirm that this event was not the result of a climbing accident or route condition that would be of potential impact or safety concern to any other teams on the mountain,” IMG chief Eric Simonson said in a statement on the company’s website.
Last year, Sugarman reached Camp 3 on Everest before abandoning a climb.
This year’s spring climbing season on Everest had a tragic start last month with the death of three Nepali climbers.
The trio were crossing the treacherous Khumbu icefall as part of a supply mission when a block of glacial ice fell and swept them into a deep crevasse.
Nepali guides — usually ethnic Sherpas from nearby valleys — are essential to the multimillion-dollar industry, bearing huge risks to prepare climbing routes and carry food and equipment.
