An experienced Kenyan climber died on Wednesday and rescuers are still searching for the Nepalese sherpa guide who was with him after the pair attempted to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, according to the Kenyan government. Nepal.
The body of 40-year-old Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui was found about 20 meters from the top of the world's highest mountain, an official from Nepal's Tourism Department told Reuters. CNN .
“Your Sherpa is still missing and the dispatch agency is still searching for him,” official Gautam Khim Lal told CNN by phone.
Kirui, a banker who lived in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, were reported missing on Wednesday morning (22) after losing radio contact. A rescue team has begun searching campsites and trails along the sprawling mountain, the official told CNN .
Kirui's body was found on Wednesday night (22), in Nepal, around 8,800 meters above sea level.
KCB Bank, the company the Kenyan worked for, called him “a passionate athlete and mountaineer,” saying he was “the second Kenyan to climb Mount Everest” in a post on X.
Kirui documented his attempt to climb Everest's peak without supplemental oxygen in an Instagram post. “An attempt without oxygen brings special preparations and risks, physically my body is ready,” she wrote when sharing the precautions she took.
He listed the medications he carried for potential illness or frostbite and said his guide would also carry an emergency oxygen bottle.
“And so, after a huge investment physically, mentally, temporally (this expedition is taking over a month from a normal 8 to 5 banker), financially (the amount of zeros needed for this to happen means I declare bankruptcy immediately and I disembark back in Kenya )… now is the moment of truth”, he wrote.
Congratulatory comments and well wishes on the Instagram post were soon replaced by messages of condolence as news spread that her body had been found.
Kirui was an outdoorsman, running ultramarathons and climbing some of the scariest mountains in the world, according to colleagues.
“His indomitable will and unwavering passion for mountaineering led him to conquer the world’s most awe-inspiring landscapes,” said KCB Group CEO Paul Russo. “His recent triumphs on Mount Manaslu and Mount Everest are a testament to his adventurous spirit and determination,” he added.
Mount Everest, the highest peak in the Himalayan mountain range, is also the highest mountain on Earth, at around 8,850 meters above sea level, on the border between Nepal and Tibet – an autonomous region of China . More than 300 people have died on the mountain.
Spring is the best season to climb Everest, although some climbers may also climb in the fall.
Most climbers attempt to climb the peak in May. There is a brief period of time – usually after mid-May – when temperatures are warmer and high-altitude winds, known as the jet stream, move away from the mountains.
(With additional input from CNN's Sugam Pokharel)
Source: CNN Brasil
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