Spanish climber dies on world's 7th highest peak
Catalan climber Juanjo Garra died on Sunday close to the summit of the world’s seventh highest peak after an ankle fracture he sustained three days earlier left him to fight sub-zero temperatures with only the company of his Sherpa.
“Despite the efforts of many people, despite the heroic resistance of Juanjo Garra, accompanied by his Kheshap Sherpa until his very last gasp of life, the mountain has decided to keep the person that loved it so much,” tweeted the Spanish mountaineer’s family and friends on Monday morning.
Garra, from the city of Lleida in Catalonia, fractured his ankle when his Sherpa slipped and dragged him down in the fall on their descent from the 8,167 metre Dhaulagiri summit in Nepal.
The Spanish mountaineer was unable to complete the descent to the camps and had to remain immobile in the company of his sherpa for three long days and nights.
Meanwhile the rest of his team climbed down Dhaulagiri to call a rescue mission to save the Spanish climber from the harsh weather conditions.
But the aerial rescue team were unable to locate Garra and his Sherpa, assuming their position on the Dhaulagiri mountain was lower down that it actually was.
“We thought Juanjo was closer to camp 3,” rescue team coordinator Sebastián Álvaro told national radio station Cadena Ser.
When one of the rescue teams finally located Garra four hours away from camp 3, he was so weak that he died soon after receiving oxygen, food and medication.
His Kheshap Sherpa has also sustained severe injuries due to the prolonged time spent in the so-called “death zone”, as altitudes of above 7,000 metres are known.
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“Despite the efforts of many people, despite the heroic resistance of Juanjo Garra, accompanied by his Kheshap Sherpa until his very last gasp of life, the mountain has decided to keep the person that loved it so much,” tweeted the Spanish mountaineer’s family and friends on Monday morning.
Garra, from the city of Lleida in Catalonia, fractured his ankle when his Sherpa slipped and dragged him down in the fall on their descent from the 8,167 metre Dhaulagiri summit in Nepal.
The Spanish mountaineer was unable to complete the descent to the camps and had to remain immobile in the company of his sherpa for three long days and nights.
Meanwhile the rest of his team climbed down Dhaulagiri to call a rescue mission to save the Spanish climber from the harsh weather conditions.
But the aerial rescue team were unable to locate Garra and his Sherpa, assuming their position on the Dhaulagiri mountain was lower down that it actually was.
“We thought Juanjo was closer to camp 3,” rescue team coordinator Sebastián Álvaro told national radio station Cadena Ser.
When one of the rescue teams finally located Garra four hours away from camp 3, he was so weak that he died soon after receiving oxygen, food and medication.
His Kheshap Sherpa has also sustained severe injuries due to the prolonged time spent in the so-called “death zone”, as altitudes of above 7,000 metres are known.
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