Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition that first climbed Everest, has passed away quietly at his home in Kapan, near Kathmandu. The 92-year-old mountaineer was an important part of the core Sherpa support team at a time when Everest was a distant dream, not a crowded tourist attraction. The Nepal Mountaineering Association shared the news of his passing yesterday.
Kanchha was born in 1933 in Namche Bazaar, a small village in Nepal’s Everest region. He didn’t know his exact birthday, but later guessed it from the Tibetan calendar, choosing the Year of the Rooster. His family grew potatoes and raised yaks, barely making ends meet.
His father, also a Sherpa climber, tried to climb Everest in 1952 with a Swiss team. That attempt, stopped by bad weather and risky route conditions on the Tibetan side, failed to summit. His father’s bravery inspired Kanchha.
At 19, needing work, Kanchha left Namche for Darjeeling, India, where climbers and porters had gathered. There, he met Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing knew Kanchha’s father from the 1952 expedition and saw something in the young man. With no climbing skills or gear, Kanchha joined the 1953 British expedition led by John Hunt. He was one of the more than 100 Sherpas hired to carry supplies, earning five rupees a day.
Kanchha Sherpa. Photo: Robic Upadhayay/AFP via Rnz.co.nz
The 1953 Everest expedition
Kanchha’s job was tough but vital. As a high-altitude porter, he carried 27kg loads of oxygen tanks, tents, and food up icy slopes and steep rocks. He tied ropes to snow and stone for climbers to use. He helped build camps, each one a small base higher on the mountain. Kanchha’s strength and good attitude kept the team going.
He reached the South Col, the last camp before the summit, one of only three Sherpas to get that far with the main climbers. From there, he waited as Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed higher into the clouds on May 29, 1953. Later that day, word came: They had reached the top.
“There was no radio, so we were waiting and waiting. When they came down, everyone was hugging and cheering,” Kanchha told National Geographic.
In London, the news hit just before Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, making headlines around the world. For Kanchha and the Sherpas, it was simple food and big smiles, but the role of Kanchha and the other Sherpas was at the heart of the expedition’s success.
Kanchha Sherpa, marked in a red circle, during the 1953 Everest expedition. Photo: Nepali Times
After Everest
Kanchha continued to climb after 1953, participating in six more Everest expeditions as a porter, until 1970. In 1963, an avalanche killed his cousin. In 1970, another avalanche took six friends.
His wife, Ang Lhakpa, had had enough and asked her husband to stop climbing, and he did. They moved back to Namche, where tourists were starting to arrive. They opened Nirvana Home, a small inn where climbers shared stories over hot meals.
Kanchha also worked to preserve the Sherpa culture, founding a group to collect and preserve songs, dances, and traditional stories about the mountains. Even in his 80s, he walked to far-off monasteries to pray, always full of energy, according to Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
But Kanchha grew upset with how Everest changed. By 2024, he saw pictures of Everest Base Camp covered in trash and overcrowded with people. The New York Times also wrote about his concerns, noting that thousands climb the mountain each year, leaving behind garbage and showing little respect for the environment.
Kanchha Sherpa, a true mountaineer at heart, leaves behind his wife, Ang Lhakpa; four sons; two daughters; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. His funeral, following Sherpa traditions, will happen soon in the Everest region.
Kanchha Sherpa. Photo: Nepal Mountain Academy/Facebook
