Athletics

Kenyan Mountaineer Cheruiyot Kirui missing on Mt Everest

A recent photo posted by Cheruiyot Kirui while on Mt Everest. (Photo: Facebook/ Cheruiyot AK)

By Rama Mohammed | Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Rescue efforts are underway for the missing Kenyan climbers and others that were reported missing

Kenyan mountaineer Cheruiyot Kirui is missing on Mt Everest, according to a report by The Himalayan.

Kirui, who was attempting to summit Everest without using supplemental oxygen, has been out of contact since Wednesday morning from a point known as Bishop Rock, just a few meters below the summit.

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Mingma Sherpa, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks, confirmed that Kirui, a banker with KCB, and his Sherpa guide, Nawang, were last contacted at Bishop Rock. Nawang reported that Kirui exhibited abnormal behaviour before they both lost contact.

"Then, the duo went out of contact," Sherpa said. In response, Seven Summit Treks has deployed two Sherpa rescuers who have reached the area above the Balcony in search of the missing climbers.

Earlier, Kirui had spoken about his ambitious goal. "Climbing Everest has been done before. I think the only difference is what I'm trying to do, climbing without supplemental oxygen. That has not been done by any African. It's the tough way to climb Mt Everest," he told reporters.

“It is riskier than climbing with supplemental oxygen. So you need to be extremely fit. The success rate of climbing without supplemental oxygen is less than 40 per cent.”

Everest’s summit, at 8,849 meters, has approximately one-third the air pressure that exists at sea level. This significantly reduces a climber's ability to breathe in enough oxygen, making the ascent incredibly dangerous. "Climbers who ascend higher than 8,000 meters on Mt. Everest enter the ‘death zone.’ In this area, oxygen is so limited that the body's cells start to die, and judgment becomes impaired," Kirui explained.

"The challenge for me would be without supplemental oxygen; otherwise, I wouldn't feel like I've achieved much. So I want to see how my body can cope at such altitude," he added.

Kirui’s passion for mountaineering developed during a work boot camp at Outward Bound Training Centre in Kajiado County. He has climbed Mt Kenya more than 15 times and scaled Kilimanjaro.

In addition to Kirui's disappearance, The Himalayan reported the death of Romanian climber Gabriel Tabara at Camp III on Mt Everest. Tabara, 48, who was attempting to climb Lhotse without supplementary oxygen, was found dead in his tent. The ongoing climbing season has been marked by several tragedies, including the disappearance of Daniel Paul Peterson from the UK and Pas Tenji Sherpa near the Hillary Step, and the deaths of two Mongolian climbers on May 13.