Defying all odds: Mount Everest guide crawls back to base camp alive after 6 days missing
After six days alone on Mount Everest and against seemingly impossible odds, Dawa Sherpa survived. He is now in stable condition and recovering in a hospital.
Man airlifted after surviving alone on Mount Everest for 6 days
Newly released footage showed the moment rescuers evacuated Nepali guide Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary, from Everest Base Camp after he was found alive six days after vanishing on the world’s highest mountain.
NEPAL – After an expedition on Mount Everest turned into a fight for survival, a 52-year-old guide spent nearly a week battling deadly conditions on the tallest mountain on Earth before miraculously crawling to his own rescue.
Around May 29, while guiding a climber down Mount Everest to base camp, Dawa Sherpa vanished without a trace into one of the world's most unforgiving environments.
Medics and rescuers carry mountaineer Dawa Sherpa upon his arrival at the HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu on June 4, 2026. A Nepali climbing guide who went missing on Mount Everest for six days and was believed dead has been found alive after crawling alone almost to Base Camp, officials told AFP on June 4. (PRABIN RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Image)
The BBC reported that Dawa Sherpa was forced to stay behind when his supplemental oxygen ran out. The climber he had been guiding made it safely back to base camp, but Sherpa was left stranded alone high on Everest to fend for himself.
Without food, water or supplemental oxygen in the high-elevations of Everest, crews feared the worst for the experienced Sherpa.
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After days without contact, the Sherpa guide's family in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu began preparing funeral rituals.
In this picture taken on May 31, 2021 shows the Himlayan range as seen from the summit of Mount Everest (8,848.86-metre), in Nepal. (Photo by Lakpa SHERPA / AFP / Getty Images)
The high elevations of Mount Everest are among the deadliest environments on the planet. Surviving for an extended period in this unforgiving landscape without essential life-support equipment would place even the most experienced mountaineer in a life-threatening situation.
This extreme environment is defined by a combination of deadly weather hazards. Temperatures well below freezing can cause frostbite within minutes, while powerful winds dramatically increase the risk of severe wind chill.
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Sudden storms and rapidly changing weather patterns can turn clear skies into deadly conditions with little warning.
This aerial picture shows climbers crossing the Khumbu icefall of Mount Everest, as seen from the Everest Base Camp, some 140 km northeast of Kathmandu. (AFP via Getty Images))
At these elevations, where oxygen levels are already critically low, even a minor change in the weather can have catastrophic consequences, making every moment on the mountain unpredictable and potentially fatal.
With the odds of survival stacked against him, Dawa Sherpa miraculously prevailed.
Days later on June 4, a cleanup crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him crawling towards base camp through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, at an elevation of nearly 18,000 feet, FOX News reported.
Medics and rescuers transfer mountaineer Dawa Sherpa from a helicopter upon his arrival at the HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu on June 4, 2026. A Nepali climbing guide who went missing on Mount Everest for six days and was believed dead has been found alive after crawling alone almost to Base Camp, officials told AFP on June 4. (PRABIN RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Images)
Rescuers immediately tended to the Sherpa with food and water, before a helicopter took him back to Kathamndu for further evaluation at a hospital and to reunite with his family.
Dawa was treated for frost bite, but reunited with his wife and daughter, who thought they had already spent their final moments with Dawa.
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"Dawa survived alone for nearly a week without food, water, or supplemental oxygen navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall (even after the fixed ladders were removed for the season)," the Nepal Mount Everest hiking company said in a social media post. "This is nothing short of a miracle."
Mountaineer Dawa Sherpa's wife Damu Sherpa (R) and daughter Mendo Lhamu Sherpa (L) wait outside the intensive care unit (ICU) at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu on June 5, 2026. The family of a Nepali climber who dragged himself off Mount Everest six days after being abandoned called for an investigation into rescue efforts, as doctors said on June 5 he is in a stable condition and recovering in hospital. (PRABIN RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Images)
According to the BBC, on his days alone in the mountains, the Sherpa battled avalanches, fell into a crevasse, chewed ice and ate forgotten chocolates left in his pockets for fuel on journey for survival.
After six days alone on Mount Everest and against seemingly impossible odds, Dawa Sherpa survived. According to local reports, he is now in stable condition and recovering in a hospital.