A British climber and his guide are missing on Mount Everest after an icefall reportedly slid onto their group as they descended from the summit.
Daniel Paul Paterson, 40, and his 23-year-old guide Pas Tenji Sherpa have reportedly not been head from since reaching Everest’s summit around 4.40am local time on Tuesday (shortly before midnight in the UK).
A Nepalese official at Everest’s base camp told The Times: “A cornice broke off and washed down a few climbers including Daniel and his guide towards the Tibet side.”
The incident is said to have happened on the Hillary Step, a nearly vertical rock face near the summit, the newspaper reports.
The area is understood to be within the so-called ‘death zone’ - the section of the mountain above 8,000 feet, where the oxygen levels and air pressure are not sufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span.
Mr Paterson is understood to be from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, where he is runs a fitness company.
A team of six climbing guides has reportedly been sent to search for the two missing men.
On Instagram, Mr Paterson has documented his long hike through the Nepalese Himalayas towards Everest’s base camp.
“The Himalayas is a special place,” he wrote on April 13, adding in a later post that he was “happiest in the mountains”.
His journey was avidly followed on Instagram by mountaineering enthusiasts from around the world.
On May 7, he said he was “waiting impatiently for a summit window”.
In a post on Instagram on May 14, he shared a video of him arriving at Everest’s base camp by helicopter.
“Base camp is enormous (1.5miles long) and hosts this year 415 climbers and all Sherpas/porters/kitchen staff/management,” he wrote.
“It’s literally a mini city at 5,364m high. It takes 8 days for hikers to reach Everest base camp and it’s 32miles from lukla. Porters, Mules, yaks and Helicopters bring everything to this city of tents that caters for everyone staying here. A logistical masterpiece.”
