The man who once carried history to the world’s highest peak has taken his final step.
Kathmandu, October 2025.
Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition that conquered Mount Everest, has died at the age of ninety-two. His passing closes one of the most extraordinary chapters in Himalayan mountaineering—a story of courage, endurance, and humility that shaped the modern identity of Nepal itself.
Born in 1933 in Namche Bazaar, a small village nestled on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, Kanchha grew up among traders, herders, and climbers whose lives were bound to the mountains. When he joined the British expedition led by Colonel John Hunt, he was barely twenty. His task was to carry equipment and supplies to the high camps that paved the way for Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s historic summit. Kanchha himself stopped at Camp VII, just below the final ridge, yet his memory of those days would outlive every other witness.
For decades he recounted the story of the ascent not with grandeur but with quiet precision: the weight of the oxygen bottles, the smell of kerosene, the way snow crystals burned the skin. His recollections became part of Nepal’s oral heritage, a human bridge between the age of exploration and the age of tourism. “They climbed for glory,” he once said, “we climbed so that they could.”
Following the 1953 triumph, Kanchha continued to work in Himalayan expeditions until retiring to Namche, where he built a small lodge that welcomed trekkers from around the world. Visitors often found him sitting outside, gazing at Ama Dablam, the sacred mountain he called “a mother who teaches you distance.” To young climbers, he offered advice that blended practicality with wisdom: tie your rope carefully, respect the weather, and never mistake bravery for impatience.
In his later years, Kanchha spoke openly about the changes he witnessed. The mountain that once demanded reverence, he lamented, had become a commercial product. He urged authorities to limit overcrowding and protect both the environment and the dignity of the Sherpa community. Environmental groups in Kathmandu often cited his words as moral guidance in debates over Everest’s future.
Tributes poured in from across the climbing world. The Nepal Mountaineering Association called him “a living archive of the Himalaya.” The British Alpine Club in London described him as “a man who embodied the soul of the first ascent.” The International Federation of Mountain Guides announced that the next annual summit on sustainable climbing will bear his name.
His death, though peaceful, struck deeply in the valleys of Solukhumbu, where bells rang in monasteries and prayer flags were raised along the trails. For many Sherpas, Kanchha represented a generation that climbed without fame, relying on instinct, discipline, and community. He was part of the invisible backbone of every success that followed.
Outside Nepal, mountaineers from Switzerland, Japan, and New Zealand—countries that have long maintained ties with the Sherpa community—issued condolences recognizing his “extraordinary contribution to human cooperation at high altitude.” The United Nations Cultural Office in Bangkok proposed documenting his testimony as intangible heritage, underscoring how his life transcended sport to become history itself.
Kanchha Sherpa leaves behind his wife, several children, and grandchildren who continue to run the family lodge in Namche Bazaar. His funeral rites will follow Buddhist tradition, with chants echoing through the Khumbu valley where his story began.
In the thin air above Everest, where wind carries both snow and memory, the footprints of those who first reached the top remain invisible but enduring. With Kanchha’s passing, that invisible line between myth and memory becomes even more fragile. The mountain stands unchanged, yet the voices that once gave it meaning have grown silent.
Phoenix24: against propaganda, memory. / Phoenix24: contra la propaganda, memoria.