A British climber and Nepali guide is feared dead after climbing Everest

A British mountaineer and his Nepali guide are feared dead after being hit by falling ice while descending Mount Everest.

Daniel Paterson, 39, from Wakefield, and guide Pastenji Sherpa, 23, summited the 29,032ft (8,849m) peak on Tuesday as part of a group.

They have not been heard from since.

Adventure company 8K Expeditions said rescuers were unable to find the pair and the chances of finding them alive were “not possible”.

The company, which organized the expedition, said the collapse happened on Hilary Pass, a vertical rock face near the summit, and that the men “fell towards Tibet through a very steep drop”.

The company said recovering their bodies was difficult because rescuers could not access that part of the mountain and helicopters could not be flown there.

The area is understood to be in the so-called “death zone” – the section of mountain above 8,000m where the oxygen level and air pressure are not sufficient to support human life for a long period of time.

Mr Paterson, co-owner of Wakefield Crossfit, has been documenting his journey to climb Everest since arriving in the Himalayas in Nepal last month.

His challenge was to help raise money for the family of a gym member who had recently died of cancer.

An experienced mountaineer, Mr Paterson had previously scaled Ama Dablam, also in the Himalayan range, which stands at 22,525 ft (6812 m).

In one of his last social media posts on May 16, Mr Paterson said climbing Everest had been his goal “for most of his life”.

He said he had spent the past 18 months preparing for the challenge of reaching the top.

He added: “One thing I can guarantee is that I will not give up. Not much in life scares me, but the thing that scares me the most is not making it.”

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Nepal and are liaising with the local authorities.”

A Romanian climber and a British climber and his Nepalese guide were also found dead on Tuesday, the Himalayan Times reported.