A Nepali sherpa guide who went missing on Mount Everest for six days is said to have actually been the ‘campsite chef’.
Last week, Dawa Sherpa was found crawling back to Base Camp after he went missing in brutal conditions between Camp III and Camp IV, until which point his loved ones believed he had died.
The 52-year-old, also known as ‘Hillary’, after the climber Edmund Hillary, had fallen into a crevasse while descending the mountain and broke his leg but he miraculously survived by eating a ‘small packet of biscuits’ and ice after losing his bag and boots.
But now a British climber has accused his trekking operator, Himalayan Traverse Adventure, of hiring the chef who worked at Camp II to take him up the 8,849-metre summit – a move that nearly killed both of them.
Chris Thrall, 56, and Dawa’s family has now claimed that the chef was drafted in at the last minute to lead the Brit up the treacherous slope.
The trekking operator, which offers expedition packages at far lower rates than market average, has reportedly confirmed that Dawa was originally assigned to be a chef at Camp II.
Angfurba Sherpa, a manager at the company, responded that if Mr Thrall ‘wanted to pay more money he would have got a better sherpa. You get what you pay for’, according to The Times.
He then reportedly said that Dawa was ‘very experienced and has worked on mountains his whole life’ but was unsure if he had summitted Mount Everest – ‘maybe once’.
Dawa Sherpa, 52, was found crawling back to Base Camp with a broken leg after he went missing in brutal conditions between Camp III and Camp IV
Dawa was presumed to be dead and his wife had even begun to offer last rites prayers for his soul
Although Mr Thrall said the guide told him he had not summitted, Pasang Dawa Sherpa from Dawa’s hometown, has claimed he did summit once 15 years ago but also failed twice.
However, the Kathmandu-based operator promises customers in their marketing that their sherpas have summitted the mountain ‘multiple times’.
It is claimed that the operator offered more money to Dawa to take Mr Thrall to the summit after the former Royal Marine’s initial guide had left him behind after a period of sickness, although this is unconfirmed.
Mr Thrall, who served between 1988 and 1995, had been trying to summit Everest to raise money for mental health charities for veterans, arriving in base camp in mid-April.
Despite weeks of acclimatisation rotations, Mr Thrall was forced to return to Kathmandu with altitude sickness but when he returned on May 13, his original guide had left.
The YouTuber had paid £26,000 for his package to ascend Everest, but was then reportedly offered £3,000 for a replacement guide, which he felt compelled to take so as not to let down sponsors.
Himalayan Traverse Adventure claimed this cost was for transporting extra resources to Camp II and not an extra charge for the new guide.
Mr Thrall, having recognised Dawa’s name as the chef when first informed as to the identity of his replacement, said a ‘look of semi-horror’ came over Dawa’s face when he told him they would be summitting Everest together.
Chris Thrall, 56, has accused his trekking operator of hiring a Camp II to take him up the 8,849-metre summit – a move that nearly killed both of them
Mr Thrall climbed up the mountain with another man, Mariusz Chmielewski, and his sherpa, but the Pole backed out from reaching the top after suffering from severe frostbite.
Mr Thrall then summitted Everest with Mr Chmielewski’s guide as Dawa had been struggling above the 6,400m Camp II, needing to take regular breaks.
On May 29, with their oxygen depleted, Mr Thrall and the sherpa descended, where they met up again with Dawa.
Just below Camp IV at 7,950m, Dawa told Mr Thrall to continue without him as he needed a rest.
‘He sat down for a rest with his backpack, these guys carry huge loads,’ Mr Thrall said.
‘And I turned and I said, “Hillary, are you okay, brother?” He said, “Yes, yes, fine Chris, please go, go!” This is nothing new, you know, I’d go ahead, he’d go ahead.’
Used to his extended breaks, Mr Thrall thought nothing of it, and came across Mr Chmielewski at 7,500m severely frostbitten and with no oxygen or a guide.
They shared the last of Mr Thrall’s oxygen and recorded a final goodbye message, in case they did not survive the descent.
Dawa was spotted crawling near Khumbu Icefall by Base Camp on Thursday morning, where he was then rescued by helicopter and rushed from the helipad to hospital on a stretcher
Through pitch darkness, raging snowstorms and racing winds, the pair battled their way down to Camp III, taking 11 hours even though it typically takes only two hours.
Mr Thrall signalled to Dawa with his headtorch but got no response.
‘It had been a long summit push. What should have been five days to the summit and back took us 11 days, that’s how challenging the conditions were,’ said Mr Thrall.
‘So, do I go back for Sherpa, who’s probably going to rock up and be fine, as he has done hundreds of times before?
‘Or do I help my fellow climber, who’s got no oxygen, frostbite in his fingers, and obviously you’re never far off hypothermia up there?’
By this point, the sherpa had fallen through a crevasse and became trapped for two days – but when a small avalanche partially filled the crack, Dawa was able to drag himself out.
The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which clears litter on the peak, spotted him crawling near Khumbu Icefall by Base Camp on Thursday morning, where he was then rescued by helicopter and rushed from the helipad to hospital on a stretcher.
Dawa’s family have filed a police complaint against Himalayan Traverse Adventure, with others calling for Himalayan Traverse Adventure to lose its licence.
They have also accused the operator of delaying rescue efforts, although Himalayan Traverse Adventure said this was due to poor conditions.
Himalayan Traverse Adventure have been contacted for comment but have previously said: ‘The weather was very bad and there was deep snow for several days. There were what we call whiteout conditions.
‘The sherpas requested not to go up [to the summit] but these guys were saying, “we’re not going back down”. Before the summit push they should have turned back.’
Dawa is said to be doing well and undergoing treatment for frostbite and other complications.
Dawa Sherpa’s wife, Damu Sherpa, said her family was overjoyed when they discovered he was alive: ‘We were very happy to hear the news, we had given up hope. We also began puja [last rites prayers].’
His daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, said they almost did not believe it when they received a telephone call to say that he was found.
‘At first we were not sure if it was him – but they sent us photos to confirm, and then I was happy,’ she said.
In a social media post, the Nepal Mount Everest hiking company said his survival in the extreme conditions was ‘nothing short of a miracle.’
The stretch between Camp III and Camp IV on Mount Everest is considered to be an incredibly dangerous leg of the climb and requires entering the notorious ‘Death Zone.’
The area is above 8,000 metres (26,000 feet) and survival is tested by critically low oxygen levels.
The body is unable to acclimatise, which can lead to severe physical exhaustion, cognitive impairment, and altitude sickness.
Mr Thrall’s climb was one of the last of the season, meaning that there were few other mountaineers on the peak.
A record number of more than 1,000 climbers and their guides scaled Everest this season, with the government issuing 494 permits.
Five climbers and guides died on Everest this season, officials said.
