Trapped on Everest for days, Nepali survivor Dawa Sherpa recounts escape

Nepali mountaineer Dawa Sherpa recounted his harrowing ordeal after being trapped for three days in a deep crevasse on Mount Everest. The 57-year-old survivor subsisted on biscuits, chocolates, and ice while his family back home had already started mourning his presumed death.

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I am very happy to be back. I thought I would die there.

Sherpa, also known as Hillary, had nearly lost hope until an avalanche filled the 8-meter-deep ice crack with snow, inadvertently creating a path to freedom. He managed to claw his way out and began a painful descent, dragging his fractured leg and using frostbitten fingers, eventually nearing Base Camp a week after he was last seen.

His family, devout Buddhists, had already begun performing last rites, believing him dead. The confusion surrounding his disappearance initially led to reports of him being missing for six days, but Sherpa estimates he collapsed a day earlier, meaning he was alone on the mountain for a full week.

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I told him to keep going, and that I will come. But when my oxygen ran out, I couldn’t move my hands or feet. So I stayed at the rope for about half an hour.

Sherpa, employed as a cook by Himalayan Traverse Adventure, was roped in as a substitute guide despite never having summited Everest. He reached the Balcony at 8,400 meters before descending to Camp Four. Running out of oxygen, he instructed his climbing partner, Chris Thrall, to continue while he sought shelter in a tent, finding noodles that helped him regain consciousness. He then descended to Camp Three, where he spent a night in harsh weather conditions before continuing his struggle towards Camp Two, only to find all other climbers had already departed.

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I ate it, and it helped me gain consciousness... I then came down to Camp Three.