69-Year-Old Mountain Climber Breathed His Last On Mount Everest

• A 69-year-old American mountaineer has died on Mount Everest, becoming the fourth person to die on the peak during the current climbing season.

• The man was said to have been feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2.

• The report states efforts are been made to bring his body back.

Eko hot blog reports that a 69-year-old American mountaineer has died on Mount Everest, becoming the fourth person to die on the peak during the current climbing season. Jonathan Sugarman passed away on Monday during an acclimatization rotation at around 6,400 metres (21,000 feet), according to his expedition organizer, Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure.

“He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2. Efforts are underway to bring (back) his body,” Sherpa told AFP. Sherpa said his team was trying to send a helicopter to retrieve Sugarman’s body, but the inclement weather conditions meant they were unable to do so at the time.

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Beyul Adventure is a local partner of US-based expedition organiser International Mountain Guides (IMG), which confirmed Sugarman’s death. “We can confirm that this event was not the result of a climbing accident or route condition that would be of potential impact or safety concern to any other teams on the mountain,” said IMG Chief Eric Simonson in a statement on the company’s website.

Sugarman had reached Camp 3 on Mount Everest last year before abandoning his climb.

The 2021 spring climbing season on Everest began tragically last month with the death of three Nepali climbers. The trio was crossing the treacherous Khumbu icefall as part of a supply mission when a block of glacial ice fell and swept them into a deep crevasse.

Nepali guides, who are usually ethnic Sherpas from nearby valleys, are essential to the multimillion-dollar mountaineering industry, bearing huge risks to prepare climbing routes and carry food and equipment. Nepal has issued 466 permits to foreign climbers this season, and since most will need a guide, over 900 people are expected to attempt to summit the mountain by early June. This could result in heavy traffic and bottlenecks en route to the summit, especially if there is a shorter climbing window because of unfavourable weather.

On average, around five climbers die every year on the world’s highest peak.

However, in 2019, 11 people died, with four of the deaths blamed on overcrowding. It is possible that climate change is exacerbating the risks, with climbers reporting widening crevasses, running water on previously snowy slopes, and more glacial lake formation.

Last month, Noel Hanna, a 56-year-old climber from Northern Ireland, died on Annapurna, the world’s tenth highest mountain, which has an even higher death rate than Everest.

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Hanna had been returning after a successful summit of the 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) peak when he died at Camp 4.