Miraculous Survival of Missing Sherpa Guide on Mount Everest

Dawa Sherpa, a seasoned Sherpa guide, displayed extraordinary resilience after being found alive on Mount Everest, a week after he was reported missing. Dawa was last sighted descending from the mountain around May 29, but he failed to reach the base camp despite his client succeeding. The end of the climbing season had left only a few climbers on Everest as the routes were dismantled.

Members of a cleaning crew discovered Dawa crawling near the Khumbu Icefall, above the base camp, on a Thursday. Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, the company coordinating the search, confirmed his discovery. They swiftly carried Dawa to safety, supplying him with food and water. A rescue helicopter transported him to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter were waiting, already in the midst of funeral preparations.

“We first heard that he was still alive on the local news and from a person we know who called with the news that … he is being brought down,” said his wife, Damu Sherpa.

Organizing a rescue team took time, and while helicopters were deployed, they initially failed to locate him. The delay left his family hopeless. Dawa’s teenage daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, mentioned they were conducting the second day of the funeral ritual when hearing the news, their doubts turning to joy once they confirmed his identity through photos.

The team that spotted Dawa belonged to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, responsible for setting up and dismantling climbers’ routes each season. Dawa, last seen at the Yellow Band above Camp 3, located at 7,200 meters (23,622 feet), was guided by a small company, Himalayan Traverse. He is from Okhaldhunga, a town south of Everest.

Many in Nepal’s mountaineering community regard Dawa’s survival as miraculous. Ang Tshering Sherpa, a prominent figure in the community stated, “This is nothing short of a miracle surviving so many days on the mountains facing such harsh condition….Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains.” Historically, Sherpas were yak herders and traders until Nepal opened its borders in the 1950s, making them highly sought-after as guides and porters in the Himalayas.

This May marked the busiest climbing season on Everest history, where over 1,000 climbers and guides reached the highest point. The season faced challenges, starting late due to a massive ice block on the route that required two weeks to clear. Everest, standing at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet), was first summited by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953.