05 June,2026 01:49 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Medics and rescuers transfer mountaineer Dawa Sherpa from a helicopter upon his arrival at the HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu. PIC/AFP
A Sherpa guide who went missing while descending Mount Everest has been found alive after spending nearly a week alone on the mountain, according to reports.
Dawa Sherpa, 52, was last seen around May 29 while descending Everest after guiding a Polish climber. Although his client safely reached base camp, Dawa never arrived, raising fears about his fate.
The climbing season had just ended and Dawa with his client were among the last people on the mountain as climbing routes were being dismantled.
The family had already lost hope after days without any information. Dawa's teenage daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, said they were on the second day of funeral rituals.
Then came an unexpected phone call.
His wife, Damu Sherpa, said they first learned he was alive through local news reports and a phone call from someone they knew
"We were very happy to hear the news, we had given up hope," said his wife, Damu Sherpa. "We also began puja yesterday." His daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, said the family initially struggled to believe the news. "At first we were not sure if it was him," she said.
"But they sent us photos to confirm and then I was happy," reported AFP.
Hope returned on Thursday morning when Dawa Sherpa was found alive near Everest Base Camp after being missing for nearly a week. Known among climbers by the nickname "Hillary" - a tribute to legendary mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was spotted by members of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC).
The SPCC team was working on its annual task of removing ropes, ladders and waste left behind after the climbing season when they spotted him crawling through the snow near the Khumbu Icefall, close to Everest Base Camp.
"He was found by a team of SPCC this morning close to the base camp - he was crawling down," said Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, which coordinated rescue efforts, reported AFP.
A rescue helicopter then flew him to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter were waiting.
At Kathmandu's HAMS Hospital, Dawa was admitted to intensive care, where doctors treated him for frostbite, cold-related injuries, dehydration and trauma.
"He is awake and undergoing treatment," said ICU doctor Nishant Dhakal.
"We are managing his frostbites, cold injuries, hydration and trauma. He is being further evaluated and will be in our ICU," reported AFP.
Despite spending nearly a week exposed to harsh conditions on the world's highest mountain, doctors said he was conscious and responding to treatment.
Although Dawa had been missing since the previous week, there was a delay in organising a search operation. No explanation was provided for the delay.
When helicopters were eventually sent to look for him, they were unable to locate him in the vast mountain terrain. His survival remained unknown until the cleanup crew happened to spot him while working on the route.
Dawa was last seen near a section of the mountain known as the Yellow Band, above Camp 3, which sits at an altitude of about 7,200 meters (23,622 feet). Everest Base Camp, where climbers begin and end their expeditions, is located at around 5,300 meters (17,388 feet).
Exactly how Dawa survived and managed to descend such a significant distance remains unclear.
He works for Himalayan Traverse, a small Kathmandu-based guiding company and comes from the town of Okhaldhunga, south of Everest.
News of Dawa's rescue quickly spread through Nepal's mountaineering community, where many described his survival as extraordinary, reported the news agencies.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, a respected figure in the climbing community, said, "This is nothing short of a miracle surviving so many days on the mountains facing such harsh condition," reported AP.
He added that Sherpas are known for their strength and endurance because of their upbringing in the Himalayas.
"Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains. If there was someone else in his place they might not have survived," he said, as per the news agency.
(With AP and AFP Inputs)
