German Climber Dies in Fall on Nepal's Ama Dablam After Summit

A German climber has died after a fall on Ama Dablam in northeast Nepal, a day after reaching the summit of the 6,814 metre peak. The Tourism Times identified him as Wolfgang Waschiczek, 57. His body was recovered at about 4,500 metres on Monday afternoon, base camp officials told the paper.

Gokul Thapa, head of Real Himalaya Pvt Ltd, which provided local logistics for the climber, told Reuters the man had topped Ama Dablam on Sunday and fell some 1,500 metres on his way back down. "His body was recovered by a search team today itself," Thapa told Reuters from Lukla, the gateway town to the region. Thapa said the body would be carried by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu for a post mortem examination.

Missing from Camp III

The Tourism Times gave a fuller account from the mountain. Waschiczek summited on October 25 with his guide, Sonam Lama, and the pair descended to Camp III that evening, according to Bodhraj Bhandari, managing director at Snowy Horizon Treks. They stayed at Camp III overnight after borrowing a sleeping bag and other gear from other climbers.

At about 8 a.m. on October 26, while the pair prepared to descend from around 6,200 metres, Lama went to return the borrowed sleeping bag. When he came back within minutes, Waschiczek was gone from the spot where he had been asked to wait with his safety gear, Bhandari said. He was not wearing crampons. A Kailash helicopter with a search team was sent to look for him, and his body was found at about 4,500 metres. The Tourism Times said Thapa put the fall at some 1,700 metres from Camp III. It is the first death on Ama Dablam this climbing season, the paper reported.

A busy and dangerous autumn

Ama Dablam stands in Solukhumbu district, the district that is also home to Mount Everest, and it is one of the most popular peaks of the autumn season. More than 300 mountaineers have received permits to climb it during the current September to November season, Reuters reported.

The death comes a week after two Japanese climbers died on another peak in west Nepal. Earlier this year, 10 climbers, including a noted Nepali-British climber, died on a mountain in Pakistan, Reuters reported.

The Tourism Times said more than 200 climbers are attempting Ama Dablam this season, and base camp officials described the recovery as the first casualty of the season on the peak.