Lynne Hanna, wife of renowned Irish climber Noel who died after descending the world’s 10th highest peak in Nepal on Monday night, has revealed how he could not have died in a more fitting place than in the Himalayas.
The 56-year-old was found dead inside his tent at Camp IV of Annapurna on Monday night after scaling the 26,545ft mountain without supplemental oxygen, officials said. He began scaling the mountain on Wednesday of last week. Camp IV is the final camp before the summit.
On Tuesday, Mingma Sherpa, chairman at Seven Summit Treks, reported Mr Hanna “breathed his last in Camp IV last night”.
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Annapurna is the highest point in the Annapurna Massif in the Nepalese Himalayas. Annapurna is in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal.
Mr Hanna’s body has now been recovered from the mountain and brought back by helicopter to Kathmandu. It is expected that a post mortem will be carried out there.
Family members have indicated that the popular climber who summited Mt Everest, the world’s highest mountain, 10 times, will be laid to rest close to Finnis, near Mourne Mountains in Co Down where he first began climbing in the coming days.
Mrs Hanna, who is also from Dromara, said she had now arrived in Kathmandu to bring his remains home.
She explained: “I have arrived in Kathmandu to bring Noel home. He passed away at Camp 4 on Annapurna after a successful summit.
“He returned to the tent, took some hot soup and fell asleep, never to awaken again, no drama, no big story. It was his time to go and he died in the Himalayas, what better place for my Mountain Man. Sleep well Noel.”
A renowned adventurer, he scaled summits and competed in sports adventures worldwide. He and his wife successfully summited Mount Everest in 2009 and 2016 from both sides. The Dromara native travelled back and forth from his home with his wife Lynn in Canada and South Africa to Nepal frequently.
Mr Hanna became the first Irish person to successfully summit and descend K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, on July 21, 2018. He also helped others to scale some of the world’s most difficult mountains.
According to expedition organisers, Indian woman climber Baljeet Kaur, who went missing above Camp IV on Mt Annapurna, was rescued alive from 24,156ft and has been airlifted back to a hospital in Kathmandu suffering with frostbite.
Pakistani climbers Shehroze Kashif, Naila Kiani and Indian climber Arjun Vajpai were evacuated from Camp IV after they fell ill while descending from the summit point, said Chhang Dawa Sherpa, Expedition Director at Seven Summit Treks when speaking to the Himalayan Times.
Altitude Air, Kailash Helicopter, Heli Everest and Simirik Helicopter were used for search and rescue missions, according to the Nepalese Department of Tourism. Climbers are being taken to different medical facilities including CIWEC, Grande and Era Hospital.
Meanwhile, a team of five Sherpa climbers has been conducting a ground search for missing climber Anurag Maloo who fell into a deep crevasse while descending from Camp III.
Mountaineering Ireland said in a statement: “Sadness is spreading through the mountaineering community in Ireland with the news adventurer and mountaineer, Noel Hanna, has died at Camp IV on Annapurna on his descent from the summit.
“On behalf of the Board and members of Mountaineering Ireland, Chairperson David Pollard expressed condolences to Noel’s wife, Lynne, who summited Everest, Manaslu and many other peaks with Noel.
“In 2021 Noel Hanna was the recipient of Mountaineering Ireland’s Lynam Medal in recognition of his remarkable accomplishments in mountaineering.
“Noel's positivity, enthusiasm and can-do attitude were infectious and his loss will be felt across the mountaineering community. May he rest in peace”.
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