Left for Dead on Everest, He Crawled Back Alive Six Days Later
Presumed dead by his own family, veteran guide Hillary Dawa Sherpa survived six days alone above 7,500 metres on a chocolate bar and melted snow before crawling back into view near Base Camp.
His family had begun preparing funeral rites. Six days after Hillary Dawa Sherpa vanished above 7,500 metres on Mount Everest, a rubbish-collection crew near Base Camp spotted a lone figure crawling out of the Khumbu Icefall. It was him — alive.
Key facts
- Hillary Dawa Sherpa, 57, a veteran high-altitude guide, went missing around 29–30 May 2026 while descending from above Camp III after his client developed frostbite.
- He survived roughly six days alone above 7,000m with no supplemental oxygen — sustained by a chocolate bar, a few snacks found in his pockets, and melted ice for water.
- He spent about two days trapped in a crevasse near the Khumbu Icefall before enough snow accumulated for him to climb out.
- A Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee cleanup team found him on 4 June, moving under his own power toward Base Camp; he was flown to Kathmandu with frostbite, severe dehydration and a fractured thigh.
Dawa was guiding a Polish client on one of the final summit pushes of the spring 2026 season when the climber developed frostbite high on the mountain. The pair turned back for Base Camp — but somewhere above the Yellow Band, just past Camp III, Dawa was left behind. When he came to, alone, his supplemental oxygen had run out and both his client and a second climber were gone.
What followed was a six-day descent made almost entirely alone, on foot, by slide and by crawl, from roughly 7,500m down toward Base Camp at 5,364m. He later described chewing ice and snow for water, and finding a chocolate bar and a few snacks in his jacket pockets — the only food he had. Above the Khumbu Icefall, he fell into a crevasse and was trapped for close to two days, freed only once enough snow and debris from small avalanches had built up beneath him to climb out.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 29–30 May | Dawa separated from his client above Camp III; oxygen exhausted |
| 30 May | Reported missing to Base Camp; search efforts begin |
| 2 June | Helicopter search mission launches |
| 4 June | Spotted alive near the Khumbu Icefall by a garbage-collection crew, evacuated by helicopter |
By the time he was found, Dawa's family — believing him dead — had already begun funeral preparations. He was flown directly to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, where doctors treated frostbite on his hands, severe dehydration, and a fractured thigh bone. Nepali and international mountaineering media described the rescue as "astonishing," and it capped a spring 2026 season that was itself one of the busiest on record, with more than 1,000 climbers reaching the summit and Nepal earning over $7 million in Everest permit fees alone.
What this means for trekkers
Dawa's ordeal happened in the mountaineering zone above Camp III — far beyond where any trekker goes. But it's a real illustration of why every reputable operator drills the same rules into trekking groups heading toward Everest Base Camp: never split from your guide, always carry a buffer of food and water, and trust the Sherpa crew's read of the mountain over your own. The people leading you have grown up with exactly this kind of terrain — and, as this story shows, an extraordinary capacity to survive it.
If Everest's human stories are what draws you to the region, the standard 14-day Everest Base Camp trek and the higher, quieter Gokyo Ri trek both walk you through the same Khumbu villages — Namche, Dingboche, Pheriche — that Dawa's rescuers called home, with NMA-certified Sherpa guides at every step.
Source: ABC News, The Himalayan Times, Outside Online
Cover photo: laichun via Pexels (Pexels License).
Source: ABC News
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