Top climber falls to death after rare feat in Himalayas

A leading Slovak mountaineer has died while descending a 7,234m peak in Nepal after achieving the rare feat of scaling the mountain’s dangerous east face.

Ondrej Huserka fell into a crevasse on Thursday after he and his climbing partner climbed Langtang Lirung mountain in the Himalayas – the 99th highest peak in the world.

The 34-year-old mountaineer had previously climbed in the Alps, Patagonia and the Pamir Mountains.

His Czech climbing partner Marek Holecek said the pair were returning to base after becoming the first climbers to climb Langtang Lirung via a “terrifying” eastern route.

While rappelling down a mountain face, Mr. Huserka’s rope broke and he fell into a crack in the ice, his partner said.

Then “after an 8-meter fall, it hit an inclined surface and then continued through a labyrinth into the depths of the glacier.”

In an emotional Facebook post, Mr Holecek recalled hearing his partner’s cries for help and desperately trying to save him.

“I rappelled down to him and stayed with him for four hours until his light went out,” Mr. Holecek said.

After freeing him from the ice, Mr Holecek discovered his partner was paralyzed.

“His star faded as he lay in my arms,” he said.

Slovakia’s mountaineering association SHS James said bad weather in Nepal had prevented rescue operations.

“After a phone call with Marek Holecek and his status published yesterday, as well as given the weather conditions at Langtang Lirung, family and friends have to come to terms with the fact that Ondrej is no longer with us,” a social network post said.

Mr. Huserka joined the Slovakian national alpinism team in 2011 and won the SHS James Prize for the best climb of the year six times, according to his personal website.

His decades-long mountaineering career took him around the world.

He completed the first ascent of “Summer Bouquet” on Alexander Block Peak in Kyrgyzstan and repeated a “legendary route” on the southeast ridge of Cerro Torre in South America, his website says.

Paying tribute to the late mountaineer, SHS James said Mr Huserka was a “top alpinist” and “world class”.

The Slovak Spectator said he was “one of the best Slovak mountaineers.”