Dawa Sherpa, a 52-year-old mountain guide, was rescued on June 4, 2026, after surviving six days alone on Mount Everest. Discovered by a cleanup crew crawling toward Base Camp, the guide had been feared dead following his disappearance on May 29. He is currently recovering at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu.
A Miraculous Survival in the Death Zone
Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa, went missing while descending from the summit of Mount Everest. The experienced guide was last seen around May 29 above Camp 3, at an altitude of approximately 7,500 meters, or 24,600 feet. As his climbing team continued their descent, Sherpa became separated from the group. While his client successfully reached base camp, Sherpa did not, leading to the dismantling of seasonal route infrastructure and the assumption that he had perished in the harsh conditions of the “death zone.”
His family, having lost hope of his survival, had already begun performing funeral rituals. The discovery of his survival occurred on the morning of June 4, when a cleanup crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) spotted him. The committee, which is tasked with managing route infrastructure and waste removal on the mountain, found the guide slowly crawling through the Khumbu Icefall. According to SPCC field coordinator Tsering Dorje, the crew was conducting a routine sweep of discarded gear near the lower sections of the icefall when they encountered a figure moving erratically against the backdrop of the glacier. Initially, the team believed they had stumbled upon abandoned equipment, but upon closer inspection, they realized the figure was a human being in a state of extreme physical distress.
The Department of Tourism in Nepal, which oversees mountaineering permits, confirmed that Sherpa’s disappearance had triggered a formal “missing person” status on May 31 after the 8K Expeditions team returned to the lower camps without him. Aerial search operations, coordinated by Simrik Air, were launched on June 1 and June 2 but were hampered by heavy cloud cover and high-velocity winds characteristic of the post-monsoon transition. Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) records indicate that flight paths were restricted during this period due to visibility dropping below the safety threshold for high-altitude rotorcraft.
The Final Descent and Rescue
British climber Chris Thrall, who was part of the group descending with Sherpa, recounted the moments leading up to the guide’s disappearance. According to Thrall, the group was making their way back toward base camp after several arduous days of climbing when Sherpa stopped to rest.
Thrall had last seen Dawa Sherpa sitting on his backpack to have a short rest as they made their way back towards base camp after arduous days of climbing.
Chris Thrall, Climber
Thrall noted that he passed the guide and continued to descend for approximately 50 to 100 meters before encountering another member of the group, a Polish climber suffering from severe frostbite and lacking supplemental oxygen. Thrall focused his attention on assisting the struggling climber. When he looked back up the mountain, he observed that Sherpa had not moved from his position. In a statement provided to the Himalayan Database, Thrall noted that the visibility at the time was rapidly deteriorating, turning the descent into a whiteout condition that obscured the path behind them. By the time the group reached Camp 2, they assumed Sherpa had chosen an alternate route or was attempting to shelter in a nearby tent, but subsequent checks by Sherpa support staff confirmed the tent was empty.
Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, the organization that coordinated the search efforts, described the discovery as a “true self-rescue.” Following his recovery by the cleanup crew, the guide was provided with food and water before being airlifted by helicopter to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu. The rescue helicopter, piloted by Captain Ramesh Shrestha of Heli Everest, managed to execute a high-altitude landing on a temporary helipad cleared by the SPCC team at approximately 5,300 meters. The extraction was completed at 10:45 a.m. local time on June 4, according to the airport logbooks at Lukla.
Recovery and Family Response
Upon his arrival at the hospital, medical officials placed Sherpa under the care of specialists. Reports indicate that he arrived conscious, and doctors have confirmed that he is awake and able to speak. While he is recovering from frostbite, his condition is being closely monitored. Dr. Anup Bastola, the lead physician at HAMS Hospital, stated in a briefing that Sherpa is suffering from stage two frostbite on his extremities and severe dehydration, but his vital organs remained surprisingly stable despite the lack of caloric intake and exposure to sub-zero temperatures for nearly a week.
For his family, the news of his survival brought an abrupt end to their mourning. His wife, Damu Sherpa, learned of his rescue through local news reports and subsequent phone calls. His daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, expressed the family’s relief after requesting photographic proof to confirm the identity of the survivor.
When we first heard about it (the rescue), we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father. So to be certain we asked for photos to be sent and then only we were sure and very happy.
Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, Daughter of Dawa Sherpa
The rescue took place during one of the busiest climbing seasons on record for Mount Everest. While the guide’s survival is being hailed as a miracle, the specific circumstances that led to his six-day isolation on the mountain remain under investigation. 8K Expeditions has been contacted for further details regarding the timeline of the disappearance and the challenges faced during the search operation. Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, managing director of Imagine Nepal and a veteran of multiple high-altitude rescues, noted that the survival of an individual in the “death zone” for six days without a tent or supplemental oxygen is statistically unprecedented in modern mountaineering history. The Nepal Mountaineering Association has announced it will conduct an internal review of the incident to determine if current safety protocols for guides on the South Col route require modification to prevent similar separations during rapid weather shifts. As of June 6, Dawa Sherpa remains in the Intensive Care Unit, with hospital administration stating that he is expected to remain under observation for at least another week as they assess the need for surgical intervention regarding his frostbite injuries.
