Nepali Sherpa Saves Malaysian Climber in Rare Everest ‘Death Zone’ Rescue

Ngima Tashi Sherpa walks as he carries a Malaysian climber while rescuing him from the death zone above camp four at Everest, Nepal, on May 18, 2023, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. Gelje Sherpa/Handout via Reuters

KATHMANDU—A Malaysian climber narrowly 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 on Wednesday.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849 metre (29,032 feet) Everest summit on May 18 when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area called the “death zone,” where temperatures can dip to minus 30 degrees Celsius (86F) or lower.