Nepali guide Dawa Sherpa survives six days alone on Everest after oxygen runs out, eating ice and chocolate
Dawa Sherpa, 57, was found crawling near Everest base camp on 4 June, six days after his oxygen ran out during a descent from the summit. He survived by chewing ice and eating a few chocolates found in his pocket.
Summit and separation
Dawa Sherpa reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,849 m) on 29 May with British climber Chris Thrall. During the descent the following day, the two separated. Thrall told the BBC that Sherpa sat down to rest above Camp 3, at roughly 7,500 metres, "as he had done hundreds of times before." Thrall continued down alone for 50 to 100 metres before encountering a Polish climber in the group who was without oxygen and suffering severe frostbite.
Immediately, my attention turned to the weakest in the group. And that's when everything changed.
Thrall said that when he looked back up the mountain while helping the Polish climber descend, Sherpa appeared not to have moved. "We would have seen his head torch," he added. Sherpa's family in Kathmandu, believing him lost, had begun funeral rites.
Stranded without oxygen
Sherpa told the BBC Nepali service from his hospital bed that he did not get lost. "As the oxygen ran out, I fell behind. Once the oxygen was finished, I could no longer walk," he said. He spent the first two days without any food. "Then I started chewing ice. It hurt my teeth," he recounted. He later found a few chocolates and snacks in his pockets, dipping them in water to eat.
I didn't think I would make it out alive. I thought I would die like that.
Fall into a crevasse
Sherpa fell into a crevasse and was trapped there for two and a half days, according to two people who spoke with him about the ordeal. An avalanche then swept snow into the crevasse, giving him a foothold. "Stepping on the snow, I stood up and looked up... I felt I could get out of there," he told the BBC. He climbed out, found a rope, gripped it, and continued descending.
- Dawa Sherpa and Chris Thrall reach Everest summit (8,849 m).
- Sherpa stops to rest above Camp 3 (~7,500 m). Thrall continues descent. Sherpa's oxygen runs out.
- Sherpa spends first two days without food, begins chewing ice.
- Sherpa falls into a crevasse and remains trapped for two and a half days.
- An avalanche sweeps snow into the crevasse; Sherpa climbs out, finds a rope, and resumes descent.
- SPCC cleanup team finds Sherpa crawling near Khumbu Icefall. Helicopter evacuates him to Kathmandu hospital.
Rescue and recovery
Sherpa walked and crawled day and night toward base camp. On the morning of 4 June, a team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), which maintains routes and cleans waste on Everest, spotted him crawling near the Khumbu Icefall. He was found exhausted, dehydrated, with frozen fingers and a fractured leg. A helicopter evacuated him to a hospital in Kathmandu, where he is receiving treatment.
I searched for ropes, then I found one. I grabbed it and walked... I was finally able to descend.
## Aftermath Sherpa, nicknamed "Hillary" after the legendary mountaineer Edmund Hillary, is recovering from dehydration, frostbite, and a leg fracture. His survival after six days alone near the "death zone," where oxygen levels are extremely low, has drawn international attention. Chris Thrall has faced criticism for leaving his climbing partner behind at such altitude.
