Kathmandu, April 12
In the first Himalayan casualty of the year in Nepal, Greek alpinist Antonios Sykaris has died on Dhaulagiri on Tuesday.
Sykaris, who had summited the mountain on Monday, died during the descent, informs his expedition organiser.
According to Seven Summit Treks, Sykaris fell ill during the descent at an altitude of around 7,400m. The outfit says that Sykaris died due to exhaustion after the summit. As soon as he showed signs of exhaustion, four Nepali climbers were sent to bring him down safely, but he died before they could reach him, say officials at Seven Summit Treks.
Antonios Sykaris’ lifeless body is currently at camp III on the mountain, where his climbing guide Dawa Sherpa is waiting for help to bring his body down. Once they bring it down to a certain altitude, the body will be carried down on a helicopter. The team said that they are waiting for a good weather window for the same.
Sykaris had 32 years of mountaineering and climbing experience and had been on over 66 mountaineering expeditions around the world.
Sykaris’ family has been informed about the incident, says Thaneshwar Guragain, the manager at Seven Summit Treks.
Prior to climbing Dhaulagiri, Sykaris had climbed Everest, Kanchenjunga, Manaslu, Lhotse and Annapurna. In January 2021, he also attempted to climb the savage mountain K2.
