He had climbed Everest ten times. The famous Northern Irish mountaineer Noel Hanna died in Nepal after returning from an expedition in the Annapurna, a mountain range in the Himalayas, Nepalese authorities announced on Tuesday. The 56-year-old adventurer had just reached the summit of Annapurna – at 8,091 meters above sea level – from which he was descending when he died Monday evening at Camp 4, in unspecified circumstances. “His body was flown down to Kathmandu” from Annapurna base camp, Mingma Sherpa, from the organization Seven Summit Treks, told AFP.
Annapurna, the tenth highest mountain in the world, is technically difficult to climb and has a higher death rate than Everest. In addition, rescuers and helicopters carried out operations on Annapurna on Tuesday to rescue three Indians, missing since Monday. Indian mountaineer Baljeet Kaur, 28, and his compatriot Arjun Vajpai, 30, were rescued after several hours of searching, the tourism department said. A third Indian mountaineer, aged 34, who fell into a crevasse on Monday, has still not been found.
A tragic start to the season
The mountaineering season in the Himalayas got off to a tragic start last week with the disappearance of three Nepalese climbers on Everest. The trio were traversing the treacherous Khumbu Icefall as they carried supplies to Camp 1, the first stage on the route to the summit of Everest, when they were hit by a mass of snow and swept into the bottom of a crevasse.
The mountaineering industry in the Himalayas relies on the experience of Sherpas, usually from the valleys of Everest. They pay a heavy price to accompany hundreds of adventurers each year on the “Roof of the world”. A third of the dead on Everest are Nepali climbers.
Nepal is home to eight of the ten highest peaks in the world and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring, when the temperatures are milder and the winds generally light. The government has issued for this season more than 700 permits for the ascent of the various mountains of the Himalayas, including 319 for that of Everest.