British climber Daniel Paul Paterson and guide missing after icefall on Mount Everest | Examiner Live

A 40-year-old personal trainer from Wakefield has gone missing in Mount Everest’s treacherous ‘death zone’ following an ice incident. Daniel Paul Paterson, along with his guide Pas Tenji Sherpa, 23, lost contact on the way down after reaching the summit at around 4.40am last Tuesday.

The two are believed to have been on Hillary Step, a lethal technical section near the South Summit, when sections of ice broke loose and fell. The Hazardous Hillary Step presents climbers with a 12-metre vertical rock face; it is the most challenging part of the regular route from the top of Everest, with daunting drops of 3,000 and 2,400 meters on either side during the descent.

“Eyewitnesses reported that the incident occurred between Summit Ridge and South Summit, and some climbers were carried up Kangshung Face,” Lakpa Sherpa of 8K Expeditions reported on Instagram. Mr Paterson was part of a 15-strong team from 8K Expeditions, led by Bolivian climber David Hugo Ayaviri Quispe, the Mirror reports.

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According to local media, three members of the expedition have already been rescued, while search efforts are underway for the others. “Our dedicated search and rescue teams are deployed on the ground. He works tirelessly to locate our missing climbers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this difficult time,” 8K Expeditions said.

A member of the Everest Base Camp team revealed to The Times: “A ledge broke and washed several climbers, including Daniel and his guide, towards the Tibet side.”

The keen climber was honoring a friend at Wakefield Crossfield Club, where she is co-owner, by dedicating her climb and recently shared the news that £10,000 had been raised for her family.

Daniel Patterson, who was training in the Himalayas last year for the climb, expressed his ambition on social media, saying: “It will always be my dream to conquer this.” Officials reported that more than 450 climbers have successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest in southern Nepal this season, which is coming to an end soon.

The main window for climbing Everest and neighboring peaks usually falls in April and May, when weather conditions are most favorable. This season, the Nepalese authorities have granted a substantial number of permits to international climbers, with an equal number of local Sherpa guides supporting their efforts.