A German climber has died after a fall while descending from the summit of Ama Dablam in Nepal's Solukhumbu district, a hiking company official told Reuters on Monday, October 26.

Source: Reuters

Wolfgang Waschiczek, 57, topped the 6,814-metre peak on Sunday, October 25, with his climbing guide Sonam Lama, and the pair descended to Camp III, where they stayed overnight after borrowing a sleeping bag and other gear from other climbers, according to Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director of Snowy Horizon Treks, speaking to The Tourism Times.

On Monday morning, while the pair prepared to descend from about 6,200 metres, Lama asked Waschiczek to wait with his safety gear while he returned the borrowed sleeping bag. When Lama came back within five minutes, the climber was gone, and he was found not to be wearing his crampons, which had been left behind, Bhandari said.

Body recovered at 4,500 metres

A search helicopter was mobilised, and a search and rescue team recovered Waschiczek's body at about 4,500 metres on Monday afternoon. Gokul Thapa, head of Real Himalaya Pvt Ltd, which provided local logistics, told Reuters the climber fell some 1,500 metres on his way down; The Tourism Times, citing Thapa, reported a fall of about 1,700 metres from Camp III. The body was being taken to Lukla for a post-mortem examination, the organisers said.

Waschiczek is the first climber to die on Ama Dablam this season. More than 300 mountaineers have received permits to climb the peak, in the Khumbu region near Everest, during the current autumn climbing season, Reuters reported.