The tour operator who guided an Australian mountaineer up Mount Everest says he died of altitude sickness.
Jason Kennison, 40, died while on a fundraising climb at the highest peak in Nepal after he twice overcame injuries to walk again.
In a letter to the Nepalese government, tour operator Asian Trekking said Mr Kennison died of high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), which is a potentially fatal condition where the brain swells from lack of oxygen.
It is linked to mountain sickness, with symptoms of impaired balance or coordination, fatigue, severe headache and altered mental state.
Asian Trekking manager Sanjaya Baral Kaju said Mr Kennison "breathed his last" at the Balcony area at 8,500 metres, where his body remained.
"Despite our best efforts, the challenging weather did not allow us to retrieve his body down," Asian Trekking manager Sanjaya Baral Kaju said.
Mr Kennison's family paid an emotional tribute yesterday to the "amazing son, amazing brother, amazing uncle".
His mother Gill said she took some comfort in knowing her final words to him were of love.
"And I said, 'Well just remember Jason please take it easy, take care and remember I'll always, I'll always love you', and that was the last words we said," she said.
"Whatever he wanted to achieve, whatever he wanted to do, he put in 110 per cent — he just went out and did it, and tried to do it and tried to achieve it, and nine times out of 10 he did.
"He was just so determined, so full of life."
Mr Kennison was told he might not walk again after a truck crash left him with traumatic injuries at the age of 23.
Three years ago, Mr Kennison suffered nerve damage from a routine surgery, but he again learned how to walk again.
The experience inspired him to raise awareness and funds for Spinal Cord Injury Australia as part of his challenge to climb Mount Everest.
"He made it in high spirits doing what he wanted. There was the climb up, he had his photo on top of the summit," his brother Adrian said.
