'I thought I would perish': Nepali climber recounts nearly a week stranded on Everest

KATHMANDU: A Nepali mountaineer who survived nearly a week on Mount Everest said he stayed alive by chewing ice as he recovered in hospital after a rescue that drew attention across the climbing community.

Dawa Sherpa, 57, went missing on May 30 in severe conditions on the upper slopes of the world’s highest peak during one of the last ascents of the spring climbing season. With only a small number of climbers still on the mountain and his oxygen supply depleted, his relatives had lost hope and had begun ritual mourning prayers, believing he had died.

Speaking to BBC Nepali from his hospital bed on Friday, Dawa Sherpa described what happened after he was left behind near Everest’s death zone, where oxygen levels are critically low.

"I didn’t think I would be alive,"

he said. He added:

“I thought I would perish this way. I didn’t get lost. As the oxygen ran out, I fell behind. After the oxygen finished, I couldn’t walk.”

Dawa Sherpa said he spent days in freezing temperatures with almost no food or water.

“I didn’t eat anything for the first two days. Then I began chewing ice.”