An Everest guide's miraculous survival raises questions for tourism industry

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. An Everest guide's miraculous survival raises questions for tourism industry2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKelly NgandKamal Pariyar , Nepali, Kathmandu Watch: 'Miracle' rescue after guide stranded on Everest for six daysA cleaning team was combing Mount Everest's perilous upper slopes for rubbish last Thursday, after a busy climbing season, when they spotted a man in a bright blue summit suit crawling at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, widely regarded as one of the most dangerous sections of the world's highest peak. It was Hillary Dawa Sherpa, a climbing guide who got separated from his clients when descending the mountain six days earlier. He had been presumed dead – yet another life claimed by Everest's treacherous slopes.

By the time the 57-year-old reappeared, his family had already begun funeral rites for him. Although frostbitten and thoroughly spent, Hillary Dawa could still sit upright and talk to those who found him, before he was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. News of his miraculous survival made international headlines and sent shockwaves throughout the mountaineering community.

The Details

However, it also raises troubling questions for the booming high-altitude tourism industry, and shines a spotlight on the deadly risks Sherpas who work on Mount Everest face. Himalayan Traverse Adventure (HTA), the company that Hillary Dawa was working for, maintains that all its processes in handling the incident were above board, and that poor weather hampered rescue efforts. Everest guide survived six-day ordeal by eating chocolate and 'chewing ice'Miracle on Everest: Guide believed dead spotted crawling down iceBut many are asking whether the company, known for offering packages below market rates, has done enough to look after their guides.

Hillary Dawa was hired as a camp cook – why then was he leading clients up the 8,849m (29,032ft) mountain? Why was a search launched only three days after he disappeared, and would it have begun sooner if he had been a client and not a guide? The Sherpa's family has filed a police report accusing HTA of negligence, and Nepal's tourism department is investigating the incident.

Disaster at 7,500mHTA had initially employed Hillary Dawa as a cook to be stationed at Camp 2, but ended up using him as a substitute for a guide who "fell sick at Base Camp", the company said. He took up the spontaneous change in assignment because he "wanted to earn some extra money", HTA manager Angfurba Sherpa tells the . That's how Hillary Dawa ended up accompanying two clients, British climber Chris Thrall and Polish climber Mariusz Chmielewski on his ill-fated trek up Mount Everest.

Also with them was fellow guide Pasang Kaji Sherpa. On the southern route to Everest there are four camps established above the main Base Camp, which climbers typically use as resting and acclimatisation points. Camp 4, which sits at 7,920m above sea level, is the highest.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.