Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the mountaineering team that first scaled Mount Everest in 1953, died early Thursday morning at his home in Kapan, Kathmandu district, Nepal. He was 92 years old, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
“He died peacefully at his residence,” said Phur Gelje Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. “A chapter of mountaineering history disappeared with him.”
Kanchha’s last rites will be performed on Monday.
Part of the historic summit of Everest in 1953
Kanchha Sherpa was among the 35-member team that helped New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. He was one of three Sherpas to reach the final camp below the summit, above the 7,900 meter South Col.
Although he himself never reached the summit due to his wife’s fear of the risks, Kanchha played a vital role as a high-altitude porter and guide.
A lifelong climber and guide
Kanchha started mountaineering at 19 and remained active in the expedition sector until the age of 50. He has participated in several Everest ascents over the years and helped create the route from base camp to the summit that is still in use today, except for the Khumbu Icefall, which moves every year.
Early life and the path to mountaineering
Kanchha was born in 1933 in Namche at the foot of Everest and grew up in a community of potato farmers and yak herders. He initially made a living trading potatoes in Tibet before being persuaded to train as a mountaineer in Darjeeling, India.
His father’s friendship with Tenzing Norgay secured Kanchha a role in the historic 1953 expedition.
Concerns about hiking Everest
Later in life, Kanchha expressed concern about overcrowding and environmental degradation on Mount Everest. He urged the climbers to respect the mountain, revered by the Sherpas as the mother goddess Qomolangma.
“It would be better for the mountain to reduce the number of climbers… People smoke and eat meat and throw them on the mountain,” he said in a March 2024 interview.
Honors and legacy
In 2013, Kanchha was honored during the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by the Nepalese government, joining relatives of Hillary and Tenzing in a ceremonial carriage through Kathmandu.
He lived in retirement in Namche, where his family runs a small hotel for tourists and climbers.
The family that survived
Kanchha Sherpa is survived by his wife, four sons, two daughters and grandchildren. His passing marks the end of the last surviving link to the team that achieved one of mankind’s most iconic mountaineering feats.
