Renowned Greek climber dies on Mt. Dhaulagiri in Nepal

Kathmandu, Apr 12 (EFE).- Renowned Greek climber Antonis Sykaris died on Tuesday while descending from the summit of Mt. Dhaulagiri (8,167 meters or 26,795 feet above sea level), becoming the first casualty in this spring climbing season in the Himalayas in Nepal.

Mingma Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Trek – which was overseeing Sykaris’ expedition -, told EFE that he died due to exhaustion after collapsing at 7,400 meters early morning.

Sykaris and his guide Dawa Sherpa were on their way back after having successfully reached the summit of Mt. Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest peak in the world, on the previous day.

Mingma Sherpa said that the company has deployed five Sherpas to retrieve the body.

Born in 1962, Sykaris was the only Greek to have climbed five eight-thousander mountains – those above 8,000m – including Everest, Annapurna, Kanchenjunga, Manaslu and Lhotse.

The Himalayan country attracts a large number of tourists every year looking to trek or scale its numerous mountain peaks.

After borders were shut in almost the entire world after the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, last year Nepal witnessed a resurgence in the number of climbers visiting the country.

Last spring, Nepal issued nearly 750 climbing permits, 408 of them to climbers aspiring to scale the world’s highest peak, Mt. Everest (8,849 meters). EFE

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