Dan Paterson, 40, and his Nepalese guide Pastenji Sherpa, 23, reached the mountain’s summit just before 5am on Tuesday, 21 May, but have not been heard from since, his partner claims.
A British man is feared dead after disappearing on Mount Everest.
Dan Paterson, 40, and his Nepalese guide Pastenji Sherpa, 23, reached the mountain’s summit just before 5am on Tuesday, 21 May, but have not been heard from since, according to his partner.
She has set up an online crowdfunding page in an “urgent” appeal to find him, saying helicopter and specialised search teams are likely to cost around £150,000. The Go Fund Me crowdfunder has reached £105,000 so far.
It reads: “My name is Becks Woodhead and I am the partner of Dan “Pat” Paterson. Dan’s family and I, urgently need your help.
“Tragically, during his descent, Daniel went missing, and there has been no contact or sighting of him since.
“Time is of the essence in a situation like this, and we are mobilising every resource we can to locate Dan.
“Conducting a search and rescue operation on Everest is an incredibly complex and costly endeavour. We are not experts in this, and there is no guarantee of success.”
Mr Paterson’s disappearance comes after a landslide of snow and ice on the mountain.
Videos and photos on social media show what appears to be hundreds of people on the Hillary Step, a nearly vertical rock face near the top of Everest at around 8,800m, in recent days.
A cornice – an overhanging mass of hardened snow overhanging the edge of a precipice – is thought to have collapsed, dragging some climbers down the side of the mountain.
Vinayak Malla, an International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) guide climbing Everest on 21 May, said on Instagram that reaching the summit “felt different than my previous experiences”.
She said: “After summiting, we crossed the Hillary Step, traffic was moving slowly then suddenly a cornice collapsed a few metres ahead of us. There was also a cornice under us.
“As the cornice collapsed, four climbers nearly perished yet were clipped onto the rope and self-rescued.