He abandoned the summit to save a climber from the “death zone”.

A Nepali guide, he was about to reach the top Everest Abandoned the summit, along with a climber who had hired his services Rescue of endangered Malaysian mountaineer in “death zone”.“On the Roof of the World” in a particularly deadly season finale.

Keljay Sherpa30, plans to take a Chinese client to the top of the world’s highest mountain – 8,849 meters – and help him paraglide down.

But when they were a few hundred meters from the summit, they discovered, Above 8,000 meters Height, at In the famous “death zone” a man is alone, shivering from the cold, clinging to a ropeA technically difficult pass, where the lack of air and cold temperatures increase the risk of altitude sickness.

“When I saw him in that condition, I didn’t have the courage to leave him there,” Khelje Sherpa told the news agency. AFP.

that day Other climbers passed in front of Malaysia without helping himBut the guide doesn’t want to judge them.

“It’s a place where you have to think about your survival, first of all,” he explained. However, Khelje Sherpa didn’t hesitate to tell his client He paid at least $45,000 for the tripThat they will never reach Mount Everest.

“When I decided to get off, My client didn’t agree at first. Obviously, he had spent a lot of money to get there, he dreamed about it for years, he had to find time to come here and climb,” Sherpa said.

“He gets angry and says he wants to climax. He had to go down because he was in my charge, and I had to scold him and remind him that he couldn’t go up without me. He was angry,” she added.

The Nepalese insisted on helping the struggling mountaineer. “Then he realized that ‘rescue’ meant I had to save him. He understood and then apologised,” she added.

The guide hooked the Malaysian up to his oxygen supply and the man recovered a bit, but he still struggled to walk. Nepali, who is about 1.60 meters and weighs 55 kg. It had to be carried through some very difficult parts of the mountain.

“Carrying someone down from there is a very difficult task. But some parts are so rocky that it is impossible to drag them. Something is broken, it’s not right,” stressed Kelje Sherpa. It took him six hours to get him to Camp 4.

“I have participated in many search and rescue missions, but this one was very difficult,” he admitted.

At Camp 4, another guide helped him descend with an injured climber, roped into sleeping bags. so, They were able to drag it down the snow slopes and carry it when needed.

When they finally reached Camp 3 at an altitude of 7,162 meters, a helicopter picked them up and took them back to base camp. Khelje Sherpa hasn’t seen the Malaysian climber since he rescued him, but he got a thank you message.

“He wrote to me: ‘You saved my life, you are my god‘” said the guide.

A high risk challenge

The mountaineering industry is based in the Himalayas The experience of the SherpasIt usually belongs to the valleys of Everest.

Beyond what they charge for their work, they pay a high price with hundreds of climbers each year: A third of those killed on Everest were Nepalese guides.

“As a guide, you feel responsible for the rest of the mountain and you have to make difficult decisions,” said Ang Norbu Sherpa, president of Nepal’s National Mountain Guides Association. “What did he do? [Gelje Sherpa] It is respectable,” he said.

For the 2023 season, the Nepalese authorities a 478 permits have been issued to foreign climbers to climb Mount EverestAnd nearly 600 climbers and guides reached the summit.

Twelve visitors died and five are still missing.

Khelje Sherpa, who has climbed the roof of the world six times, has no regrets about his decision.

“People only focus on the summit, but everyone can do it,” he opined. On the contrary, “It is very difficult to drop someone from 8,000 meters”.

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