US climber dies, Indian missing on Everest

A US climber has died near Everest's summit, the third death in this year's spring climbing season at the world's highest peak.

A US climber has died near Everest's summit, with an Indian climber also missing.

The latest fatality is the third death in this year's spring climbing season at the world's highest peak.

Fifty-year-old Roland Yearwood of the United States was part of an expedition led by a British guide company trying to reach the top of the 8848-metre peak, said Murari Sharma, managing director of the company's local partner.

"He was one of four Americans in the team," Sharma said on Sunday, adding that two climbing guides had been sent to recover the body.

Ravi Kumar, an Indian climber, has been missing since Sunday after his descent from the summit, The Himalayan Times reported.

An 85-year-old Nepali climber died at Everest base camp two weeks ago during his attempt to become the oldest person to summit Everest.

A veteran Swiss climber vying to climb the mountain via a new route fell to his death last month.

Nepal has issued permits to 375 would-be Everest climbers, the highest number in one season since 1953, when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary became the first climbers to reach the top.

Some 5000 climbers have followed in their footsteps and about 300 have died trying.

Meanwhile, climbing the world's tallest mountain just got even harder, after mountaineers confirmed the collapse of the so-called Hillary Step, a near-vertical rock face thought to be the most challenging hurdle for climbers on their way to the summit.

Tim Mosedale, a British mountaineer of the Everest Expedition group, confirmed that the Step was "no more" in a Facebook post earlier this month, adding that "there's some huge blocks randomly perched hither and thither which will be quite tricky to negotiate.


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Source: AAP



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