Not possible to search for British climber and his Sherpa who went missing on Everest, official says

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Nepali official said Sunday it wasn’t possible to search for a British climber and his Sherpa guide who went missing after reaching the top of Mount Everest six days ago because both fell on their way down from “a very high altitude” on the Chinese side of the mountain which will require further coordination to form a search party.

Daniel Paul Paterson, 40, and his local guide Pas Tenji, 23, were reported missing Tuesday on the world’s highest peak which is on the border between China and Nepal.

This climbing season, which started in March and is expected to end in a few days, saw four climbers — two Mongolians, one Nepali and one Kenyan — die. The Kenyan climber’s guide, Nawang Sherpa, has been missing since May 22.

Last year, 18 climbers died while attempting to scale the treacherous 29,032-foot (8,849-meter-) mountain, according to Nepal’s mountaineering department.

“It is not possible to search for the missing climbers right now because the British (mountaineer) and his Sherpa fell from the bottom of Hillary step which is at about 8,800 meters (26,964 feet) and toward the Kangshung Face in Tibet,” said Khim Lal Gautam, an official at Everest’s base camp who monitors climbers.

The Kangshung Face is one of the Tibeatean eastern-facing sides of the mountain, controlled by China.

“It is going to be difficult to search for them because they have fallen on the Tibet side which needs coordination,” Gautam said.

Hundreds of climbers have successfully scaled Everest this month during the short window of good weather. Climbers also reported the usual number of mountaineers en route to the peak’s top this week.

“The traffic of climbers heading to the summit was similar to that of the past two or three