Climber survives ‘very rare’ rescue

KATHMANDU: A Malaysian climber survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a “very rare” high altitude rescue, a government official said.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8 849m summit on May 18 when he saw him clinging to a rope and shivering in the “death zone” area, where temperatures can dip to -30°C or lower.

Gelje hauled the climber 600m down from the Balcony area to the South Col, over six hours, where another guide, joined the rescue. A helicopter using a long line lifted him from the 7 162m high Camp III down to base camp.