KATHMANDU: The last surviving member of the first mountaineering expedition to successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest died in Kathmandu on Thursday, aged 92, his family said.
Kanchha Sherpa was a teenager when he accompanied the historic 1953 team led by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who became the first climbers to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
The cause of Kanchha Sherpa’s death early Thursday morning was unclear.
“He hadn’t been feeling well for a few days,” said his grandson, Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa. AFP.
Born in 1933, Kanchha Sherpa was 19 when he joined the expedition as a porter despite having no prior mountaineering experience.
He undertook the arduous more than two-week trek to Mount Everest’s base camp, carrying food, tents and gear, before climbing to an altitude of more than 8,000 meters (26,200 feet) near the summit.
“He was a living legend and an inspiration to all mountaineers and those working in the industry,” said Fur Gelje Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. “We have lost our guardian.”
Kanchha Sherpa worked in the Himalayan mountains for another two decades after the expedition until his wife asked him to stop the dangerous trips after several of his friends died while participating in other climbing treks, his family said.
