Found Alive: A Sherpa's Six Days Missing on Mount Everest

Dawa Sherpa, a mountain guide from Nepal, was found alive on June 4, 2026, after being missing for six days on Mount Everest. A cleanup crew discovered him crawling through snow near an area called Crampon Point in the Khumbu Icefall, a jumbled section of the mountain full of ice blocks and deep cracks. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu, where doctors treated him for frostbite—damage to his fingers from extreme cold—according to The Kathmandu Post.

How He Was Found

Workers with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee discovered Sherpa on Thursday morning while cleaning up the mountain after the climbing season ended. Pemba Sherpa, who runs 8K Expeditions (a company coordinating the search), said rescue teams found the guide "sliding and crawling through the snow" in one of Everest's most dangerous sections.

A helicopter from Altitude Air had been sent from Kathmandu the day before to help with the search. Once Sherpa was found, the team planned to get him down to Base Camp, and then fly him to the capital for proper medical care.

What Happened

Dawa Sherpa was last seen around May 29. He was descending the mountain with a British client after a climb. Somewhere between Camp IV (at 26,000 feet) and Camp III (at 23,300 feet), the two got separated. His client made it safely to Base Camp, but Sherpa never showed up. This was one of the final days of the climbing season, when the mountain was starting to shut down for the year.

The timing made rescue harder. Because the climbing season was officially ending, crews were already taking apart equipment and clearing people off the mountain. There were fewer resources and fewer people around to help search.

His Family's Relief

Sherpa's wife, Damu Sherpa, and their daughter had lost hope. They had already started funeral rituals—the traditional ceremonies performed when someone is presumed dead—when they learned he was alive, according to Al Jazeera.

The Nepal Tourism Department is now investigating how Sherpa became separated from his client in the first place.

Why This Matters

What happened to Dawa Sherpa points to a real problem: the final days of the climbing season are particularly risky for Nepali guides. Once the season officially ends, climbing companies start pulling equipment and support off the mountain. But guides keep working until the last minute, helping clients complete their descents. That combination—fewer people around, less equipment available, yet work still happening—creates danger.

The Khumbu Icefall, where Sherpa was found, is one of Everest's most difficult sections even for expert guides. Ice blocks shift constantly, and crevasses open and close unpredictably. Being alone in that zone and disoriented makes survival much harder.

What Happens Next

Sherpa's six-day survival at high altitude without shelter or proper gear is remarkable. But his frostbite shows how severe the conditions were. He was treated at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, which specializes in high-altitude injuries and treats climbers evacuated from Everest regularly.

This rescue also highlights something unexpected: the cleanup crews that remove trash and equipment from Everest at season's end may have accidentally saved his life. Their systematic sweep of the mountain was designed for environmental reasons, but it created the opportunity to find Sherpa.

The successful rescue may push expedition companies to rethink how they manage the final days of the season, especially how they protect guides when infrastructure is being removed. The Nepal Tourism Department's investigation may lead to new rules about end-of-season safety. For now, Sherpa's case serves as a reminder of the real dangers guides face every year, and why rescue capabilities matter even after most climbers have gone home.