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Legendary Everest climber feared dead

Photo: AFP /Sherpa Shangri-La Treks and Expeditions

Chhewang Nima Sherpa at the summit of Mount Everest earlier this year.

KATHMANDU: A Nepalese mountaineer who has climbed Mount Everest 19 times is missing and feared dead in the Himalayas two days after being swept away by an avalanche, said expedition organisers on Monday.

Chhewang Nima Sherpa (43) was fixing ropes for a climbing group high on the 7,129-metre Mount Baruntse on Saturday when the avalanche hit as one of his colleagues looked on.

“It's been so long since he went missing. We fear that he is dead. If he is buried under the snow, there is no way he can survive,” Jeeban Ghimire, director of Sherpa Shangri-La Treks, which organised the expedition, told AFP. Mr. Ghimire said bad weather had hampered the helicopter rescue operation.

Other members of the expedition included six British climbers and one American.

Mr. Chhewang is one ascent away from equalling the world record of summiting Mount Everest 20 times, which is held by Apa Sherpa.

He was due to climb Everest twice in the spring next year to claim Apa's record, which was set in May.

Mr. Chhewang, a father of two daughters, climbed Everest twice earlier this year and has also climbed many of the Himalayas' other highest peaks. — AFP

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