A young Sherpa porter died last night in a fall below Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face.
Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, 20, from Thame village left Camp 2 at 7 pm yesterday, loaded with gear. According to Nepalese media reports, the accident occurred some four hours later, in the middle of the night. Phura Gyaljen slipped and fell at around 7,000m on the Lhotse Face, just below Camp 3.
“A search operation later found him approximately 400m below in a crevasse between Camps 2 and 3 on the Lhotse Face,” Everest Chronicle reported.
There are no further details about how he fell or whether he was clipped to the fixed ropes. His body was carried to the helipad at Camp 2, from which he was airlifted in the morning.
Phura Gyaljen came from a prestigious family of Sherpa guides. He was the grandson of the legendary Ang Rita Sherpa, who climbed Everest in winter without supplemental oxygen.
This is the second casualty on Everest this season above Base Camp, after Bijay Ghimire of Nepal, a seasoned Everest climber, became sick and died while climbing to Camp 2 on Sunday. It is the third death if we consider the demise of Lakpa Tendi Sherpa, a guide who died before reaching Base Camp, reportedly from a fall.
Summit push tonight
Meanwhile, many Sherpas are working at full throttle to fix the ropes, carry loads, and for some, to summit Everest tomorrow. At the moment of writing this story, a team of nine Sherpa climbers from Imagine Nepal, Elite Exped, and Seven Summit Treks is about to reach the Balcony of Everest at 8,400m, according to The Tourism Times.
More Sherpas are on the way, including the team assigned by the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOA). Another group is currently preparing to leave Camp 4 for the summit tonight.
Looking down from Everest’s Balcony. Photo: Peak Promotion
