An American climber tragically lost his life while attempting to reach the summit of the fifth-highest mountain globally.
Alexander Panko, 39, passed away on Sunday evening at Camp 2 in Makar.
According to Iswali Paudel, a Himalayan guide, Panko descended after a rotation to Camp 3 but was feeling unwell.
Efforts were being made to retrieve his body.
Panko was an experienced climber who had previously survived a brain tumor during his youth.
He accomplished the Explorer’s Grand Slam—a feat that entails climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents and skiing to both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Recently, he had been dealing with chronic myeloid leukemia and was preparing to climb McCal to raise funds for the Pediatric Hematology Cancer Program at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge for me—climbing at altitude while managing chronic illness is quite tough—but I look forward to facing that challenge,” he mentioned on the website Peaks of Mind.
Panko’s death marks the first fatality of this summit season, following a successful summit attempt last month on Amadablam in Nepal.
Nepal is home to eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, and attracts hundreds of climbers each year during the spring and fall climbing seasons.
This season alone, nearly 500 permits have been issued for various mountains, including 214 for Everest.
