Daniel Paterson missing: British mountaineer and his Sherpa missing on Everest untraceable, official says

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Officials in Nepal have dashed hopes of an immediate search to find a British climber who went missing on Everest six days ago.

Daniel Paul Paterson, 40, and his local guide Pas Tenji, 23, went missing on Tuesday on the world’s highest peak, which straddles the China-Nepal border. Mr Paterson’s family have launched a fundraising appeal to start a search effort to find him.

But on Sunday, a Nepalese official said it was not possible to search for the pair at this time because they both fell from “a very high altitude” on the Chinese side of the mountain, which will require further coordination to form a search group.

“It is not possible to search for the missing climbers at this time as the British (climber) and his Sherpa fell from the bottom of the Hillary Step, which is approximately 8,800 meters (26,964 feet) and onto the Kangshung Face in Tibet Khim said. Lal Gautam, an official at Everest Base Camp who monitors the climbers.

The Kangshung face is one of the east-facing Tibetan sides of the mountain, controlled by China.

“It will be difficult to look for them because they have fallen on the side of Tibet, which needs coordination,” Gautam said.

Mr Paterson was part of a fee-paying 15-strong team with climbing company 8K Expeditions, which is now frantically searching for other missing climbers in temperatures that can drop to -36C.

Describing him as a ‘beloved son, brother, partner, friend and proud co-owner of Wakefield Crossfit’ who is ‘known for his adventurous spirit, kindness and unwavering dedication to helping others’, Paterson’s partner Becks Woodhead is urgent. seeking help to fund a rescue effort.

“Time is of the essence in a situation like this and we are mobilizing all the resources we can to locate Dan. We hope to launch a search mission with the assistance of a rescue team specializing in search operations in extreme environments,” Ms Woodhead said earlier this week.

This climbing season, which started in March and is expected to end in a few days, has killed four climbers – two Mongolians, one Nepali and one Kenyan. Kenyan mountaineer guide Nawang Sherpa has been missing since May 22. Last year, 18 climbers died while trying to scale the dangerous 29,032-foot (8,849-meter) mountain, according to Nepal’s mountaineering department.

Hundreds of climbers have successfully scaled Everest this month during the short spell of good weather. Climbers also reported the usual number of climbers on their way to the top of the peak this week.

“The traffic of climbers going to the summit was similar to the last two or three years,” Tendi Sherpa, who has scaled the peak 17 times, including twice this month, told The Associated Press.

Tendi said when he and his team reached the summit on May 21, despite seeing “about 200 climbers … they were all organized and used their experiences and expertise” to navigate through the crowd.

Among Tendi’s climbing team was Phunjo Jhangmu Lama, who scaled the summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, reclaiming the title of fastest female climber on Mount Everest.

Lama also said that climber traffic was normal and that most of her climb from base camp to the summit went without breaks, without long stops.

“Traffic is nothing new,” Lama said. “It’s been going on for years.”

Recently, some have complained that the mountain is becoming too crowded with climbers and dirty with trash.

In March, 91-year-old Kanchha Sherpa, the only surviving member of the climbing expedition that first conquered Everest, echoed the sentiment, saying the number of climbing permits should be reduced.

During the spring 2023 climbing season, 667 climbers scaled the peak, bringing thousands of support staff to base camp and raising concerns about trash and waste generation.

Those who would like to donate to help fund the search for Mr. Paterson can do that here.