Everest Guide Survives 6 Days Alone at 25,000 Feet

When Dawa Sherpa's family began funeral preparations, he was still fighting for his life 25,000 feet up Mount Everest.

The 52-year-old experienced guide became separated from other climbers on May 29, the final days of the spring climbing season. He was last seen resting on his backpack above Camp Three at 7,600 meters, telling fellow climber Chris Thrall he was fine.

Six days later, a cleanup crew spotted him crawling down toward base camp through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. The fixed ladders and ropes had already been removed for the season.

Dawa survived on a few chocolates he found in his pocket and ice he chewed despite the pain to his teeth. "I didn't think I would be alive," he told BBC Nepali from his hospital bed in Kathmandu. "I thought I would perish this way."

The guide's ordeal included falling into a crevasse where he remained trapped for two and a half days. An avalanche paradoxically saved him by filling the chasm with enough snow for him to climb out.

After escaping, another avalanche hit as Dawa used ropes to crawl down the mountain. "I got through the snow and moved downwards," he said. "I walked throughout that night."

He was airlifted to a hospital where he's now recovering from dehydration, frostbite, and a fractured bone. His family says he's doing well.

Why This Inspires

Experts are calling Dawa's survival unprecedented. Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, who oversaw aerial search efforts, said no one has survived alone at that altitude on Everest before.

Simon Balderstone, part of the first Australian Everest expedition in 1984, credits Dawa's instincts and heritage. "Sherpas are high altitude people," he explained. "They are seriously tough operators."

The mountaineer's body starts shutting down above 20,000 feet due to lack of oxygen. Cerebral edema, life-threatening brain swelling, becomes a constant threat. Dawa was well above that threshold for days.

Balderstone called navigating the icefall without ladders "a major achievement" as monsoon season arrives. "For him to survive like that, it's almost unheard of," he said.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, a leading figure in Nepal's mountaineering community, believes anyone else would have perished. "Sherpas are built tough growing up in the mountains," he said. "This is nothing short of a miracle."

Dawa's survival reminds us that the human spirit, paired with deep knowledge and respect for nature, can overcome seemingly impossible odds.